The Cipher
by Battleangel911
Summary: Fifteen-year-old Zyon Anderson just moved to Gravity Falls and he got a job at the Mystery Shack. It doesn't take long for him to crush on Wendy. Shortly after getting the job, the two befriended each other and he starts learning the secrets of the town. However, Zyon has secrets of his own, and the ones who become his closest friends will suffer the most.
1. Chapter 1: A Haunted Unwelcoming

The Cipher

N/A: This story was suggested by The core of Justice.

Fifteen-year-old Zyon Anderson just moved to Gravity Falls and he got a job at the Mystery Shack. It doesn't take long for him to crush on Wendy. Shortly after getting the job, the two befriended each other and he starts learning the secrets of the town. However, Zyon has secrets of his own, and the ones who become his closest friends will suffer the most.

Some chapters will follow ones on the show with a few changes, while others will be completely new.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Haunted Unwelcoming

Zyon Anderson stacked the snow globes on the shelf behind the register. His eyes wandered over to the redhead on the cash register. He noticed a snow globe was next to her. He could easily reach it, but took this as an opportunity to talk to her.

"Hey Wendy, can you hand me that globe," he asked. She looked up from her magazine. Her hand shot out and grabbed the snow. She handed it to him and went back to reading. Zyon watched as customers came up to the register and waited for Wendy to ring them up. When she didn't, they glared at her until she finally noticed them. Her eyes carelessly stared at the person in front of her as her mouth formed a straight line.

Time moved slowly as the clock inched its way to six-o-clock, the time the Mystery Shack would close for the day. When that time finally came, Wendy put away her magazine and rushed to the door. Zyon raced to the door. The teenage girl stood with wide eyes, surprised that he suddenly stood in front of her with the door opened.

"After you," he said. She smiled as she walked passed him.

"Later Z," she waved.

When Zyon got home, he was greeted by silence. He knew his parents were still at work. His mother was still on her shift, working with the Sherriff and Deputy. She was lucky to get the position of an officer shortly after the family moved to Gravity Falls. His father, who was once a big shot lawyer in New York decided he wanted something more quiet and away from the city. He also worked late nights just like his wife. Zyon sighed as he opened the fridge. As he got stuff out to make a sandwich, his phone beeped, which meant he had a text. He checked his phone and started reading, totally forgetting to close the refrigerator.

Hey man,

I wondered if you wanted to go out with me and my friends tonight? This night will be legendary. Let me know, Dude

Wendy.

For a moment, Zyon tried to form a thought. He read the text over and over again. Moving his thumbs to the keys, he began typing.

Yeah. Cool.

He couldn't think of anything else. Then, he pushed the send button. He bit his lip. He couldn't go wrong with, 'yeah, cool,' right?

His phone beeped.

All right man. Meet me at the Mystery Shack at nine.

'The Mystery Shack?' He thought to himself. 'The place where they worked? Well, whatever.'

Zyon arrived at the Shack ten minutes before nine. It may not be cool to show up early, but he didn't want to get left behind. However, nine-o-clock rolled around and he didn't see Wendy yet. He wondered if he should text her. Then he wondered if she would think he's a loser or something. Being on time was so uncool anyway. Five minutes went by, then ten... Zyon checked his phone again. Fifteen after nine. Now, maybe he should text her? In the distance, the door entering the gift shop opened and closed. Two figures ran out into the night. They ran to a van pulling up beside them. The van door slid open and the two hopped inside. Zyon ran towards the van as it took off. His heart sank. Maybe Wendy was just messing with him.

Suddenly the van stopped, before doing a big U-turn. Zyon watched wide-eyed as the van circled him then stopped. The same door slid open and Wendy poked her head out.

"There you are!" she said excitedly.

"Oh hey, what's up?" Zyon asked as he climbed inside the vehicle.

Zyon sat on the seat behind Wendy. Tambry was next to her, Nate and Lee were squished together on the floor and Robbie was up front with Thompson driving. Zyon recalled when he met the gang the other day they came to the Shack. They were all hanging out until Stan yelled at them all to leave. However, he wasn't familiar with the two young kids in the back. He turned to the kid with the pine tree on his hat.

"Who are you two exactly?"

The kid narrowed his eyes. "Uh, it's Dipper. Dipper Pines. We work together," he harshly reminded Zyon, who vaguely remember seeing him around cleaning various displays. The girl with the long brown hair next to Dipper grabbed and shook Zyon's hand. "I'm Mabel!" she practically screamed.

"Oh yeah, these two are our boss's grandniece and nephew," Wendy told him. "They're both thirteen so they're technically teenagers," she further explained. Zyon studied the twin boy and girl. Being fifteen himself, he had a hard time recognizing the two children who looked like they were only eight years old, as teenagers.

Thompson turned to all the passengers.

"Okay so before we go, my mom told me that you guys aren't allowed to punch the ceiling of the van anymore," he said in a low key voice.

Every passenger began raising their fists, punching the top of the van, screaming, "Thompson! Thompson!" Thompson turned back around with a defeated expression as he drove off.

After the van reached its destination, the crew got out and walked up to the barbed wire fence that kept out trespassers. The teenagers gazed through the fence to see the abandoned convince store ahead.

"There it is, Dusk 2 Dawn," Nate said. "Some say the ghosts of the old people who owned it still haunt the building."

Zyon shrugged, but he noticed how nervous Dipper looked.

"What? Are you guys serious?" the boy stuttered.

Zyon shook his head. Why was this kid even here?

"Yeah, we're all gonna die!" Wendy said, faking a scared voice. "Chill out dude, it's not as bad as you think."

Zyon suddenly noticed the sign on the fence. Trespassers will be prosecuted. Or Dead as someone painted red letters, D-E-A-D on the sign.

"Alright, let's do this already!" Robbie said with exasperation. He jumped onto the fence, climbing up and easily dropped over onto the other side. Wendy followed suit, but made a more graceful landing. Tambry followed then, Nate and Lee went over. Even Thompson made it over, even though he landed hard on his huge stomach. The others laughed at his cries of pain. Zyon stepped up to the fence. He never really jumped a fence before, but it couldn't be too hard. With his hands on the metal grating and his foot in the loops, he started to climb. As he approached the top, his eyes wavered downwards. Closing them, he breathed in and continued pulling himself over the fence and jumping to the ground. Mabel came over next, practically flying over. Then...Dipper climbed the fence. He did pretty well until he got to the top. He had a leg on either side and just kind of sat there.

"Hey Dipper, come on already!" Wendy yelled up at him.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to get a foot-hold," he said attempting to get his foot in one of the loops on the side coming over the fence.

"Dude! Your sister did it!" Robbie shouted. Zyon looked over at Mabel who curiously was on the ground making high pitch noises and running herself around in a circle.

Once Dipper finally made it over the fence, the group walked up to the dilapidated building with cracked paint, broken windows and a caved in roof. The place didn't even look safe enough to stand under.

"How are we getting inside?" Nate asked.

"Uh, how about through the broken glass," Robbie said as he approached a window with a wide-open hole in the windowpane.

"I don't' think you want to go in that way," Zyon said suddenly. Robbie turned to him with a glare.

"Why not?" he asked sharply.

"Uh, how about because you're gonna cut yourself?"

"Whatever," Robbie said. He put his hand onto the broken glass shard. Immediately, he winced in pain. He looked at his hand to see a trinket of blood running down his hand.

"Let's just kick down the door." Nate said.

Robbie suddenly threw a kick into the door, creating a loud echo. He let out a yell as he jumped around.

"Man, how are we going to get inside," Wendy wondered. Her gaze fell on Zyon as if he had the answer. Unfortunately, he didn't.

"Let me try," Dipper said, walking up to the door.

"Oh, sure. I can't get in, but I'm sure junior here can break down the door no problem."

"Come on, he's just a little kid," Wendy said, trying to defend him. Zyon stifled a laugh.

Dipper suddenly jumped up to the dumpster and climbed up to the roof. The others shouted their concern as he rammed his shoulder into the closed vent, then punched it a few times.

"Go Dipper!" Mabel yelled. "Punch that metal thing!"

The vent broke open and he slipped through.

"What ya wanna bet he doesn't make it," Robbie jeered.

A moment later, Dipper opened the door into the store. The others cheered.

"Your new name is Dr. Fun Times," Lee said as he high fived Dipper. The others followed suit, but Zyon looked curiously at the boy as he walked by. Zyon really didn't expect that kind of act from the kid. Maybe this Dipper kid had some surprises. Then again, so did he.

Once inside, the teenagers ransacked the store, taking out ice pops from the freezer and candy and chips off the shelves. He noticed Robbie looking in the register for cash. It must have been empty, because he grunted angrily as he shut it. Zyon didn't see Wendy since they walked inside. Looking around for her, he stumbled upon the girl twin. She was snacking on a bunch of sugar from imported bags. He looked over the bright purple packet with a yellow dog. The black symbols looked Japanese or something. White tape was wrapped around the display of the sugary treat reading DO NOT SELL! He shrugged and walked down the next isle. He stopped suddenly seeing the fat guy, Thompson bent over and Lee and Nate pouring ice in his pants. Lee turned and yelled to the others.

"We need more ice!"

"On it!" Someone else yelled. Zyon watched Dipper as he jumped down from the top of one of the shelves. He looked up to see Wendy. So that's where she's been hiding. He looked straight ahead at the boy who rushed over to the freezer. Now was his chance. He began to climb the shelf. Half way up, he got that shaky feeling. He almost looked down, but then his eyes went up to Wendy. He kept his glance on her until he reached the top.

"Hey Wendy," Zyon said as he sat next to her. She turned with her mouth agape.

"Oh, hey!" she smiled.

"So, uh, this has been an interesting adventure," he said, feeling the butterflies rise in his stomach.

"Yeah, I was just telling Dipper that this night is going to be Legendary. I'm sort of surprised. He's handling all of this quite well."

Suddenly someone let out a loud shriek. All heads turned towards the freezer. Wendy hopped down with ease. Zyon looked down and suddenly felt like a cat stuck in a tree. Crap!

He looked around. Everyone was standing around Dipper who had dropped the ice bag with the ice scattered all over the floor. Zyon breathed in, a pale blue aura formed around him. He pushed himself off the shelf and lowered himself to the floor.

Zyon showed up just as the group ran to the Dancy Pants arcade game. He let out a long sigh. He felt like he was just playing catch up tonight. He turned back to the ice in the freezer. Apparently, Dipper couldn't handle getting a simple bag of ice. Well, he definitely could do that. Opening the freezer door, he reached in and grabbed a bag. As he took it out, he suddenly heard a baby crying. He looked down at what he thought was an ice bag. He let out his own horrified cry as he realized he was holding a frozen baby in a blanket! He tossed it back inside and shut the door. He put a hand over his mouth, hoping no one heard him scream like a little girl. Unfortunately, everyone came running.

"Whoa! Who just screamed like a little girl over here?" Robbie asked.

"Uh, I dunno," Zyon responded. "It definitely wasn't me." He finished with a huge smile. "I uh, was going to get Thompson some ice, since some people can't handle the simple task," he said glaring at Dipper.

"Oh don't worry about that Dude," Wendy replied. "Thompson's busy on the dance game." Everyone turned to see the huge teen trying his best to match the arrows on the screen. Zyon followed the rest of the group back past the entrance doors. As everyone stood around, his eyes went to the reflection off the doors. He grimaced as their reflections merged into a black ink blotch. The ink blotch formed a woman holding a baby. Hallow eyes stared back at him; blood dripped from the eyes, flowing down her cheeks, falling onto the baby. Zyon shook his head and rubbed his eyes. The woman was gone and the images returned to normal. His glance went over to the others who seemed unaware.

As the night went on, everyone enjoyed themselves in the unauthorized store. Zyon walked back towards the Smile Dip display. He saw Dipper vigorously shaking his sister.

"Mabel! How many of these did you eat?" he cried.

He looked at the huge grin on the girl's face along with dilated pupils.

"Eleventeen!" she responded.

Dipper began freaking out. Zyon calmly walked over.

"She's been eating this stuff all night," he told the frightened boy.

"How can you be so calm?" Dipper yelled at him.

"It's sugar, Dude," Zyon responded. "Not crack cocaine. She'll come off the high—eventually." Zyon saw a pack of Smile Dip that Mabel didn't eat. Opening, he took the dipping stick and started eating the sugar.

"You guys might wanna see this," Robbie yelled from behind the cash register. Everyone ran over to see the new discovery. A chalk drawing of a body lay out on the floor. Exclamations of the drawing rang from their mouths.

"The freakin' hell, man!" Nate exclaimed.

"Dare someone to lie down in it," Robbie taunted.

Nate jabbed Lee in the shoulder. "Go lie down in it."

Lee laughed as he walked over to the chalk drawing. "Hey Everyone, I'm a dead body!"

His foot hovered over the drawing as Dipper yelled to him.

"Wait! Let's not to that!"

"This guy's scared," Nate jested.

"I mean, why tempt the fates. This place—might—be—haunted—?" He winced at his own words.

Everyone booed him.

"Christ! Take it down a notch Captain Buzzkill!" Robbie mocked.

Dipper turned with hurt eyes. "But, I thought I was Dr. Fun Times."

"Well, you're acting like freakin' Captain Buzzkill,"

Everyone jested at him for being a baby. His eyes went to Wendy.

"Yeah, little bit," she agreed.

Tambry vigorously typed on her phone. "Status Update: Trapped in store with stupid eight year old boy scared to death of fake ghosts!"

"I'm thirteen!" Dipper yelled. He was about to lay down in it when Zyon pushed him out of the way.

"Hey, check it out guys! I'm some dead bitch who probably lost her baby or some shit!" He lay down in the markings of the female.

The moment Zyon lay in the chalk outline, it glowed in a brilliant blue light. He hopped out of it immediately. Every light in the place went out at once.

"What the hell?" Nate cried out.

An eerie greenish glow appeared behind the teens. Everyone turned to see Mabel floating in the air. She lay limp, her eyes closed.

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted to her. Mabel's mouth opened. The sound of a baby's cry came out.

"It's okay. Don't cry," came a woman's voice. A ghostly figure of a woman appeared behind Mabel, her arms wrapped around the girl, cradling her. She looked down at the teenagers. "You stay away from my precious little girl!" she screamed.

"W-We d-didn't d-do anything t-to your b-baby, Ma'am," Lee stammered.

"Liars! All of you kids are the same! You don't care about anyone but yourselves!" Her blue eyes went completely white. A greenish, blue glow surrounded various objects in the store. They lifted into the air.

"Let's get out of here!" Robbie shouted. He grabbed the cash register and threw it at the doors. The aura surrounding the building shielded the glass, causing the register bounce off the doors and land in a heap by the counter.

"It looks like I'll have to teach all of you a lesson!" She snapped her fingers. Tambry fazed into her phone and ended up in the video game Thompson was playing. He screamed and suddenly was pulled into the game with her. They cried out as arrows fell on them like spears, piecing them down.

Lee and Nate were tossed into the freezer where the door shut locking them inside.

"Please just stop!" Wendy cried out. "We're sorry and we'll leave the store!"

"It's too late!" the woman responded. Mabel let out another wail as the ones left were raised to the ceiling.

"You stupid bitch! Let us out of here!" Robbie yelled. More crying came from Mabel as Robbie became rigid and shrunk to the size of a dollar bill and shoved into the register.

Zyon, Dipper and Wendy were left. Suddenly the three fell to the floor. As Wendy tried to get up, an ice bag hit her in the head.

"What do we do?" she cried out.

Dipper took out a book with a maroon cover and a gold six fingered hand on it. Zyon squinted at the book as the other boy skimmed the pages.

"There's got to be something in here. I was just reading about ghosts."

"Quick, get under there!" Wendy yelled, pointing to where two shelves fell on each other, creating a small hideaway hole. The three huddled together as more objects in the store swirled above them. Zyon never dealt with ghosts before. He just wished he knew how to stop all of this. His eyes fell on Wendy who was equally as horrified as he was.

"I found something!" Dipper yelled. The other two looked over at him. "When a ghost is violent, they need to be appeased. Usually, if you know why the ghost is upset, you can find what will calm them down."

"She doesn't want anyone to hurt her baby," Zyon replied. "Maybe someone did something to her baby—" It hit him. The dead baby he found in the freezer. He covered his mouth. His stomach ached; he felt sick. "I think someone threw her baby in the freezer—to kill it!"

"Who would do something so horrible?" Wendy wondered.

"Wait, Tambry was texting, Thompson was playing a video game and Robbie was being a jerk," Dipper noted.

"Yeah, those are all normal teenage things," Wendy said.

"So, she just hates teenagers?" Zyon asked. "Dipper, how old are you again?" The boy met his gaze and suddenly understood. Dipper got out of the hiding spot with Wendy yelling for him to come back. With numerous heavy objects whirling around and a howling wind taking up the entire space of the store, the boy called out to the woman.

"Hey!" She looked down at him. "I'm not a teenager!" The wind died down.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

He breathed in and he glanced back at Wendy. "I'm only twelve, technically not a teen."

The woman laughed. "Well, what a coincidence! A twelve year old killed my baby!"

"What?" he cried out.

"What?" Both Wendy and Zyon cried at the same time.

Suddenly fire sprang up around Dipper.

"No! Wait! I would never—" Dipper coughed until he finally passed out from the fumes from the smoke.

Zyon suddenly ran out of the hiding spot. He walked through the heat of the fire, grabbed Dipper then put a hand out towards the flames. A blue aura grew around his hand; his hand absorbed the fire until it no longer was a threat. Wendy watched from the hiding spot. All she saw was Zyon disappear into the flames and then the flames disappeared. She wasn't sure how it all happened, but she now realized both boys were safe. The ghost floated down with Mabel, landing on the ground.

"How did you do that?" The woman studied Zyon for a moment. Her eyes grew wide. "Oh, I know what you did," she giggled. "Hope you don't lose your mind like that other one did."

"Listen, can you please let me and my friends out of here? None of us hurt your baby. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but— Please?"

"You are not like the others," she said. Suddenly she embraced Uni. He shuddered as frigid cold air swallowed him.

He stood in the convince store thirty years ago. The woman, in her youth of a twenty something yeas old, stood behind the register. She waited on a man about her age with thick brown hair and glasses.

"Hey, where are Ma and Pa today?" he asked.

"Oh, they are on vacation this week. I'm Anna."

The man paid for his items and left the store. A baby's cry suddenly erupted next to her. She looked down at her six-month-old baby in her stroller. There weren't any costumers in the store so she took the time to heat up a bottle in the back. Ma and Pa were the only employers she's ever had who would allow her to bring her baby to work. She was a working, single mother who couldn't afford a baby sitter. She came back out and gave the bottle to her child. The door opened with the ring of the bell. Two young kids stepped inside, a boy and a girl; the girl had long brown hair and the boy had curly hair the same color.

"Okay, hurry up and get your stupid sugar sticks," he said. The girl ran off. The boy walked over to the comics rack by the register.

Behind the counter, the baby dropped her body and began to cry. Anna turned and looked for the bottle, but it rolled under the counter and hit the boy's foot. As she came around to the other side, the boy picked it up.

"Oh, thank you," she said.

She expected him to give the bottle to her, but he sneered at her.

"Why do you have your baby here? Isn't that against store rules or something?"

"Oh, I know the owners." She heard her baby crying. She once again tried to take the bottle from the boy.

"Come on lady! I'm only twelve and I know you don't bring a crying brat into a public store."

"Excuse me? Where are your parents?"

The boy shrugged. "Don't know, don't care." He walked behind the counter to see the baby girl fidgeting about, crying at the top of her lungs.

"What, you want your bottle?" The boy mocked.

Anna had her hands on her hips. "Young man, you and your friend need to leave the store now!"

"That's my stupid sister. And we're not leaving until she gets her candy."

"Out! You can come back later with your parents!"

The girl came up to the register with at least ten packs of Smile Dip.

"Tell her that," the boy said carelessly. Anna turned to the girl.

"Sorry dear, I'm afraid you need to have your parents here before I can sell you that."

The girl gave the woman a deadpan stare. Anna gasped as she backed up. "Y-young lady?"

The girl walked behind the counter and picked up the crying baby. She held the baby with one arm and pointed at the sugar treats with the other.

"She says, give her the sugar and she won't hurt the baby," the boy translated.

"What?" Anna gasped. "Both of you get out now or I'm calling the sheriff!"

The girl carried the baby towards the freezer. Anna ran to stand in the girl's path.

"Give me my baby!" The girl did and Anna sighed with relief. However, the woman didn't realize her surroundings as she stood next to the shelf containing bags of Smile Dip. The girl suddenly pushed over the display onto the woman. She cried out as the shelves landed on her, crushing her. As the woman gasped her air, the girl took the baby and tossed it into the freezer. She then came back, grabbed a bunch of bags of Smile Dip and walked towards the doors exiting the building. The boy shook his head. "You should have just sold us the candy, lady." He said before joining his sister.

The vision ended. Zyon now stared into the eyes of the woman.

"I'm sorry," he said again. Even though my friends can be jerks and they broke into your shop, none of them would ever hurt a baby. I don't even think Robbie would do that." That last part he said more to himself. The woman's sad gaze lingered on Zyon. He watched her walk over and point to the freezer.

"She's still in there," the woman spoke with a hoarse voice. He guessed it was due to crushed vocal chords. Zyon walked over and opened the freezer. Inside was the six-month-old baby. He handed it to the woman, to Anna. "Thank you." The woman walked out of the store and faded away.

The ghostly glow that surrounded the store vanished and everyone lay around in various parts of the store.

"What happened?" Nate asked.

"Man, where did the ghost go?" Then they saw Mabel walk by, holding her head and groaning. Both guys screamed.

"Chill out guys!" Wendy called to them. "It's over! And we have Zyon and Dipper to thank."

Zyon and Dipper? Zyon thought to himself. He saved Dipper. He saved everyone!

"Man, I don't give two shits right now!" Robbie yelled. "I'm getting the hell out of here!"

Everyone piled into the car. Mostly everyone fell asleep. Zyon sat next to Lee, peering out at Dipper talking to Wendy. She mentioned something about them hanging out at the Shack. Suddenly, he started to regret that he saved that little boy. The two finally got into the van and Thompson drove off, never to return again.


	2. Chapter 2: Doubles

N/A: I hoped everyone liked the first chapter. This is the first type of story I'm writing where I'm using stuff from the show. The second chapter is another episode of the show, but with some changes. The third chapter will be totally made up.

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 2: Doubles

Days passed since the haunted convenience store adventure. Zyon waited for another one of Wendy's text, however, his phone stayed silent. He let out an exasperated sigh as he checked the calendar app on his phone. He had to work the next day, so he'd see Wendy anyway. The sun descended outside his window, his eyes gazed on the red sky for a moment. The ceramic dragon clock on the nightstand read 8:45pm. He wouldn't go to bed for at least four more hours. What to do to pass the time... The computer on the other side of the room was still on. Video games always made the time pass quickly.

Zyon arrived at the Mystery Shack about 9:55am for his ten-o-clock shift. He walked through the gift shop entrance and found himself alone in the room. Feeling a little awkward, he walked behind the register and hung his jacket on the coat rack. As he stood looking around the room at all the cheaply made oddities, the door that led into the house burst open. Soos came in, holding a large box with various pieces of what Zyon would describe as junk. The large man set the box down on the floor and wiped his brow.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he almost fell over.

"What's all that stuff?" Zyon asked.

"Decorations, Dude," Soos answered.

"What are you decorating?"

Mabel suddenly popped out of the box. "What aren't we decorating!" she yelled. Zyon yelled as he fell backwards. Soos and Mabel laughed as Zyon slowly climbed to his feet.

"Sorry," Mabel said while she giggled. "I'm just really excited! My grunkle is having the biggest party ever here at the shack!"

Grunkle? Zyon thought to himself.

"Yeah and there's going to be music, and I'm the DJ!" Soos proclaimed.

"Really?" Zyon asked. "You know, I've always been interested in being a DJ."

Soos raised his eyebrows. "Oh Dude! Let me show you my sound system!"

"Well, I have to get to work—"

At that moment, Stan walked into the room. His eyes landed on Zyon.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. I'm having a party tonight, so after your shift, I'm gonna need you to help decorate." He unrolled a poster of a donkey with the words Um Burro at the bottom. "I want to make it as kid friendly as possible. If the young people of this town want fun, I'll smother them with fun!"

Zyon laughed. "Okay, as long as I'm still getting paid."

"Paid?" Stan asked as if he just spoke a foreign word.

"Don't worry, man," Soos spoke softly as he nudged him with his elbow. "You get a bunch of free snacks.

"Well, Kid, if you wanna start now, you can make some copies of this flyer."

Zyon took the piece of paper from his boss.

Party at the Mystery Shack

Teenagers and Kid Welcome

Free?

At the bottom right was a buck with a space out eyes and party hats on the left.

"So, is there a copier store, somewhere in town?"

"Yeah! The copier store!" Soos chimed in. "Calendars, mugs, t-shirts and more, they've got it all at the copier store. That's not their slogan, I just really feel that way about the copier store."

In response to Soos' little jingle, Zyon lifted an eyebrow, and then let out a hardy laugh.

"Wow man, you ever thought of writing slogans for advertising companies?"

"Only every day of my life," Soos said with conviction.

"Forget about going to the store," Stan said. He pointed towards his office. "Go use my copier. There were some issues with it, but I fixed it up good as new."

Zyon took Stan's flyer and walked into the office where he saw the twins from the other night. He walked into the room just as Dipper threw his soda onto a piece of paper. That wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that on the piece of paper was a photographed arm that was actually moving! Now, they watched as the arm deteriorated.

"What the hell?!" Zyon burst out.

Dipper and Mabel turned to the new person who just walked into the room.

"What are you two doing?" Zyon asked further.

Both twins stared at Zyon with vague expressions. Suddenly, Mabel made a puking sound as she sprayed him with silly string.

Zyon lifted his arms looking at the colorful mess. He laughed suddenly as he pulled the stuff off.

"Are you going to be spraying people at the party?" he asked.

Mabel shrugged. "The night is young."

"It's not nighttime yet," Dipper pointed out the obvious.

"It's an expression, man," Zyon said. "So, uh, your uncle wanted me to make copies of this, so—" He walked over to the decrypted piece of machinery and went to work. As the twins left, he heard Mabel whisper to her brother,

"Do you think we should tell him that it can copy a human being?" Zyon turned around with a skeptical grimace. The two walked away without saying another word.

When Zyon walked into the shop with the flyers, he saw Wendy by the cash register. He set the flyers down on a box next to the counter.

"Hey Wendy," he greeted. The redhead looked up.

"Oh, hey man. You heard about Stan's party tonight?"

He smiled and pointed to the flyers. "Yeah, I copied some flyers for him." At that moment, Stan walked into the room. He picked up the flyers.

"Good work, Kid," he said. "Glad I can depend on someone around here," he said glaring at Wendy who wasn't even paying attention. She currently had her nose buried in her magazine.

After Stan left, Zyon turned his attention back to Wendy.

"So, Stan wants to throw a kid party? That seems kind of strange. I didn't think he cared about kids?"

Wendy looked up and shrugged. "He doesn't. He hates when kids mess around in the store. I heard that one time this kid broke something in the shop and Stan did something to scare him so badly that this kid now has a stuttering problem."

Most people would end the conversation there, but Zyon wasn't afraid to ask.

"What did he do to the kid?"

Wendy's eyes grew wide. "Uh, I'm kinda hazy on the details. Soos would know." She pretended to look down at her magazine, keeping one eye on Zyon as he walked over to the handyman.

"Hey Soos," he greeted. He narrowed his eyes on the large man as he glued a squirrel to a raccoon. "There we go, a squirrel—raccoon, a Squroon. What's going on Hambone?"

Zyon raised an eyebrow to the nickname. "Soos, do you know what Stan's issue is with kids? Did he like, do something bad to a kid?"

Soos gritted his teeth. "Uh, well—Mr. Pines just has a certain way he keeps his shop and when someone—er, doesn't also keep the shop the same way, he get's a little agitated."

"I heard he scared some kid really bad," Zyon returned.

"Oh, it wasn't too bad," Soos said, faking a big smile. "Even though the kid had to be rushed to the hospital and there was a potential lawsuit thrown at Stan and the Mystery Shack that would forever close this place down. Luckily, Stan knows people who can make anyone disappear." Suddenly Soos' eyes popped wide open. "Oh no! Don't tell him I said that!" Soos yelled as he shook Zyon by the shoulders.

"No, it's cool man. I was just curious. I don't plan on saying a thing."

"Oh, thank goodness," Soos responded wiping his forehead. The large man went back to gluing animal parts together.

The end of the day came around and Zyon finished his shift. Wendy wasn't at the cash register. What if she went home before he had a chance to talk to her?!

As he stood there, staring longingly at the counter where Wendy worked every day, an air horn went off by his ear. The teenager jumped a mile high and turned around to see Wendy's freckled face.

"Hey Z! It's party time, Dude!"

Zyon slowed his breathing while still covering his ears. The smile on his face grew and he nodded. The two walked into the next room where Soos put a party hat on the horn of a rhinoceros head mounted on the wall. Stan put up the poster of the donkey on the wall. Dipper held a bunch of darts in his hands.

"Grunkle Stan, this is not how you play Pin the Tail on the Donkey."

"Just throw the darts! See if you can hit its tail."

Dipper threw a dart, which completely missed the donkey. The second one hit the donkey in the leg. The third hit the head and the fourth almost hit Stan.

"Watch it, Kid! Mabel get over here and show your noddle arm brother how it's done!" Mabel walked over while Stan collected the darts. He handed them to his grandniece.

The first one she threw was a direct hit on the top of the tail.

"YEAH!" she screamed. She put a hand up and turned to her brother who gave her the well deserved high five.

"Okay, enough, horsing around, everyone, start decorating!" Stan yelled.

In the next hour, the entire room was decorated with balloon, streamers, and strobe lights. A buffet of snacks covered a couple of tables. Zyon helped Soos plug in the chord to his keyboard. Soos tested the keys out. Each key set off a different sound effect. Thunder, clapping, guitar, and someone shouting 'yeah.' Zyon liked the 'yeah' key. More guests arrived, filing up the room with various chatter.

"Where's Wendy?" Zyon asked.

Soos turned to him. "Oh, she's outside with Dipper selling tickets."

Zyon's mouth curved down. "Is she doing that all night?"

"Knowing Wendy, she'll find a way out of it."

Zyon smiled. Then all he had to do was wait until she came back inside.

After the current song finished playing, Soos took a plastic gold crown in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" he said into the microphone. "I have here the official gold crown to give to the person who—party hardys? What?" He tossed the paper behind him. "This crown goes to whoever has the most party spirit!" A girl with blonde hair sporting a purple outfit walked up with two friends equally fashionably dressed.

"I'll take that," the blonde said.

"I'm sorry, I can't just give it to you. You have a win it in a competition," Soos explained.

"Honestly, who is going to compete against me?" she answered in a snobbish tone.

Zyon had now lost interest in this girl's antics and wandered across the room. Looking outside, he saw Wendy sitting at a table next to Dipper. She took money and gave each partygoer their ticket. Zyon pounded on the glass.

"Hey, Wendy!" he yelled. She turned around, then smiled and waved. Zyon made a hand gesture, motioning her to come inside. She put up a finger and turned around. Then, she was gone. He still peered out the window, looking for her. A hand shout out and tapped him on the shoulder. Zyon jumped as he spun around to meet Wendy's smiling face.

"Yeah Dude, show me some moves!" she cried out.

Moves? He smiled. A yellowish aura formed around his body as he began moving his feet rhythmically to the music. Of course, no one saw the aura, just like no one saw during the event at the convenience store. Wendy danced alongside him.

"Woo-hoo!" she yelled. He happily lived in the moment, dancing with the coolest girl he ever met. Then, suddenly...

"Yo! Wendy!" She stopped dancing and turned. Zyon followed her gaze to Robbie standing by the wall.

"Oh, hey!" she ran over to him. Zyon stopped dancing. He was totally forgotten.

There was no way he was going over there if Robbie was there. That guy sent out a whole bunch of bad vibes. He also felt stupid just standing alone on the dance floor while others had someone to dance with. He moved back over by Soos, but kept his eyes on Wendy and Robbie.

"Okay Dudes," Soos began. "Now it's time for the singing competition. Pacifica is up first." The blonde stepped up onto the stage and snatched the microphone away from Soos. She began a melodramatic song. The audience hung on every note she sang. She finished with on a high pitch with her stunning voice. The people clapped and cheered. She pushed the mic into Mabel's stomach.

"Top that!" she challenged. It was then, Zyon remembered meeting the girl twin the other night.

"Soos! Give me the most eightiest, rock bouncing, crowd pleasingist song you got!" The DJ pressed a button on his remote. "Excellent!" She began belting out the song. "Don't start unbelieving! Never do not feel your feelings!" she sang. The crowd cheered loudly. "I'm gonna do a flip!" she yelled as she jumped into the air, but not really doing as much of a flip as a belly flop. "That was for you guys!"

The crowd went crazy. Zyon found himself chuckling at her antics. She was very entertaining for a twelve-year-old girl. Suddenly, Dipper walked over. However, something seemed off. He looked like the same kid, but something was off. When he turned his head back, Zyon saw a number two on the hat. Wasn't there a pine tree before?

"Hey, Dipper!" Zyon greeted. The kid turned around and narrowed his eyes.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, we hung out at the convenience store and we work together," Zyon reminded him. Didn't he have to be reminded about them being coworkers the other night?

"Oh, uh, yeah, right. Uh, I gotta take care of something. He handed the piece of paper to Soos who read the announcement.

"To the owner of a red dirt bike, it's being stolen like right now."

All of the sudden, Robbie jumped to his feet. "What?!" he cried. He ran out the door.

Well, that was interesting, but it worked to his advantage. He walked over to Wendy, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Dipper standing next to her. This was odd as he just saw the kid on the other side of the room a moment ago. Studying the kid, he realized he had the pine tree on his hat again.

In the next moment, Soos began playing a slow dance. This would be the perfect opportunity if that stupid kid wasn't around. Wait? Who cares if he was? He was just that, a kid. Zyon walked towards where Wendy lay on the couch. Odd enough as he approached, Dipper ran off. Well, that was convenient.

"Hey Wendy," Zyon saluted.

She sat up. "Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Hey, uh, so, would I sound like a dork if I asked you to dance?" he smiled nervously.

Wendy laughed. "Yeah, but sure, I'll dance with ya." His heart did a flip.

"Really?" Suddenly his stomach felt heavy. "I-oh, uh hold on, I gotta use the bathroom!" He rushed off.

The bathroom downstairs was in use, so Zyon ran to find another one. As far as he knew, the shack was only one floor with the upper floor being the attic. Suddenly, he found the office. Inside, he was met with an eyeful. Dippers...lots of Dippers stood in the office. There were ten of them, and one wrinkled up one. He looked at them as they also took notice of him. No one spoke. Zyon's eyes went the copier.

"No way," he whispered. "I thought the girl was just joking. You made copies of yourself?" He asked the original Dipper.

"I—uh—" The twelve year old was at a loss for words.

"Why?" Zyon burst out. "Just. Why?"

Dipper sighed. "I wanted to dance with Wendy, but Robbie got in the way and—"

"—So, you made an army of yourself to take his bike to get him into a secluded place so you all could beat him up? Brilliant!"

"No, no. See," Dipper took out a small piece of paper, which he kept unfolding until it was a big piece of paper. "The plan was for me to engage her in small talk and I was going to be outside selling tickets with her. Just her and me alone. Then she got into the party, and then I had to find a way into the party. I made some copies of me to steal Robbie's bike to distract him so I could talk to Wendy and dance with her."

"Okay, you took care of Robbie, why didn't you dance with Wendy."

"There were too many variables! I couldn't take the chance!"

"You couldn't take the chance? Why did you do all of this?"

"I already told you! I had everything perfectly calculated."

"Actually, I had everything perfectly calculated," Number Two stated.

"No I did!" Five yelled.

"Uh, no, it was my plan," Eight corrected.

"Guys, let's not do this," the original Dipper said.

"Well, what about him!" Nine cried. "He's a variable too! What if he tries to dance with Wendy?"

"So what if I do?" Zyon asked hastily. "It's not like any of you are doing anything useful!"

"Oh, he is so going down!" Ten yelled.

"Get him!" Seven shouted.

The wrinkled copy of Dipper made a bunch of high pitch shouts as all them charged after Zyon. He ran out of the room, leading the Dipper copies down the hallway towards the storage closet. Running into the closet, Zyon waited for every copy and the original to get inside.

"Now we have you cornered!" the original shouted.

A smirk lined Zyon's mouth. Suddenly, he faded away.

"What?!" Every Dipper cried out.

The closet door slammed shut and locked. Zyon stood outside the door.

"I can do tricks too!" he shouted.

He ran back to the copier.

"Unfortunately, that copy of me doesn't last very long. And I can only make one." His eyes fell onto the old copier. "But now I can make as many of me as I want!"

Zyon lay in the copier and hit the button. Paper after paper came out until there were ten copies of him. He looked over their dark complexion, brown eyes and wavy black hair. It was as if he looked at himself in a mirror, ten times.

"Cool. Now, you guys keep Robbie busy. I don't know, tie him up and I'll dance with Wendy."

"Wait!" one of them shouted. "Why do you get to dance with Wendy?"

"Uh, because I'm the original me."

"How do we know that?" Another asked. "It's not like you numbered us! We all look the same!"

"Wait a minute! You're my clones! You have to do what I say!" Zyon argued.

"Hey, there's more of us than there are of you!" A third clone shouted.

"Hey, hold on!" Zyon yelled. "What's with this gaining up on me crap? This isn't some cheap 1970's horror movie!"

"Hey, you're the one who made copies of yourself and didn't give us any guidelines," A fourth one stated.

"Well, I am right now! No gaining up on me!" Zyon shouted.

"Can each of us have a turn dancing with Wendy? Robbie will be tied up for a very long time," A fifth interjected.

"I don't know guys, that's kind of mean," said a sixth copy. "What if he has to go to the bathroom?"

"Who cares? He's a jerk!" the seventh copy spoke.

"Maybe give him a bottle," said the eighth.

"Dude, that's so wrong!" exclaimed the ninth.

"Has anyone just thought of talking to Wendy like a normal person?" the tenth copy asked.

All at once the copies began to argue.

Someone suddenly tapped Zyon on the shoulder. He turned to see the group of Dippers.

"Hey, how did you get out of the closet?"

The original Dipper held up a blowtorch.

"You locked us in a supply closet, dumbass!"

"Hey, who ya think ya talkin' to!" Zyon raged as he grabbed Dipper and pushed him against the wall.

"I think I'm talking to a less intelligent version of a hairless ape, but I'm not sure!" Dipper yelled as he pushed back. Suddenly, Zyon grabbed Dipper and tossed him to the floor.

All was quiet for a moment.

"Clone fight!" One of Zyon's copies yelled.

All the clones attacked each other. Punches and kicks were thrown, the clones wrestled around and crashed into various items in the office.

"Hold on, there's a better way to do this!" Zyon yelled to his clones. He made an image of himself. His clones followed suit. All the Dippers gasped.

"Now you're out numbered!" The original Zyon yelled at the original Dipper.

"How are you doing that?" Dipper asked.

"None ya business!"

There were now two of Zyon's copies to each one of Dipper's copies. The original Dipper watched with a gaping mouth as each of his copies were held down by one of his opponents and beaten by the other. The copies of Dipper cried out,

"Hey! No fair!"

Suddenly, various objects rose into the air. Dipper's eyes grew even wider as he watched the desk drawers rise upwards and the objects inside floated above their heads. Roles of tape wrapped every one of Dipper's copies.

"Alright! That's enough!" The original Dipper shouted. He took the blowtorch and lit a few of Zyon's copies on fire. Since they were made of paper, they burned up. Unfortunately, the fire started catching other things in the office.

"Oh no!" Dipper cried. He grabbed the fire extinguisher in the corner and dosed the fire. Parts of Stan's desk and the carpet sizzled. Suddenly, the sprinkler system went off; every photocopy of the two boys got drenched. Each one melted away.

"Lame!" the Dippers cried out as they melted into puddles.

"Oh hell no! This aint right!" zyon's copies cried out.

The boys stood without much to say after all of that.

"Maybe we should get out of here," Dipper said.

"Yep," Zyon agreed.

When the two walked back to the dance room, they saw Robbie and Wendy by the far wall. Robbie whispered something to her, which made her laugh and shove him.

"Man, that guy has got to go!" Zyon said crossly.

"You know what I'm thinking?" Dipper asked. He turned to the other boy. "Let's put aside our differences and just plan on how to get rid of Robbie."

Zyon squint his eyes. "You want to help me—get rid of Robbie?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Dipper agreed.

"Okay. But I'm too tired right now."

"Well, no, we have to come up with a whole new plan. Come with me."

Dipper led Zyon into the gift shop where he showed him the ladder that led up to the roof. The two reached the top of the shack where they could look up at the stars. Dipper sat down on one of the fold out chairs and Zyon sat in the other one.

"I had no idea you could come up here," he said.

Dipper nodded. "Yep. I come up here a lot. It's great place to sneak away to during work."

Zyon laughed. "Okay, kid. I guess you're not so bad. I mean, you're not Robbie. Speaking of him—"

Dipper opened a cooler and handed Zyon a soda.

"We'll figure it out later," Dipper said. He looked up at the ebony sky full of tiny burning lights. Zyon joined him.

"So, about those powers of yours—" Dipper began. Zyon turned with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "I don't see you wearing an amulet, so did you sell your soul or something?"

Zyon laughed. "Psychics run in my family. Someone you know wears an actual amulet?"

"Someone I know, did," Dipper clarified. "He's harmless now. My sister and I took care of him. If you ever meet anyone named Gideon, just avoid him."

Zyon busted out laughing. "Like I'd be afraid of someone named Gideon. What's his last name?"

"Gleeful," Dipper replied.

Zyon laughed harder. "Gideon Gleeful! You have to be making that up."

"Sadly, no. He's got this white hair that forms a dome on top of his head." Dipper moved his hand in a curve above his hairline.

"Oh wow! I'm finding out about all sorts of weird characters living in this town."

Dipper let out a sigh. "You have no idea," he said drinking his soda.

Zyon didn't come home until close to two in the morning. He entered a dark house and climbed the stairs to his room. As he lay on his bed, he thought about the night's events. Dipper wasn't really the threat. How could he be? He's only twelve. Zyon knew he was the same age as Wendy. But something had to be done about Robbie. Maybe my dreams will have the answer. He thought to himself. As Zyon closed his eyes, two colorful lights of red and blue appeared on either side of his bed. The lights moved and took form of dragons. As the boy fell asleep, the creatures entered his mind.

N/A: Hope you enjoyed chapter 2. If you have any ideas of what should happen in the story, please go ahead and leave a suggestion.

Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3: Fair Game

**A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to the next chapter! I would like to thank** ** _noir Ulrich, EmPro8, and Ryan Last King_** **for their reviews. I would also like to thank everyone who is following and reading this fanfic. This next chapter does not follow any episode, but takes place during one. So Enjoy!**

Chapter 3: Fair Game

Deep inside his mind, Zyon saw many doorways floating around him. His mind space was devoid of any color except for shadows of gray. He heard the cry and looked up to see his friends flying above. The two magnificent dragons were the only vibrant colors in this space.

"Hey Crimson," he greeted the red orb. "Hey Oceana," he said to the one in blue. They hovered around one door in particular, a door at the top of a carpeted staircase. The stairs themselves reminded him of his childhood, specially because they were the stairs from his old house where he grew up.

Once Zyon reached the top, he opened the door to see a memory of his completely in color. He was about twelve years old and he was trying to talk to a girl who lived next door to him. She had long red hair and freckles. Her pale skin and hair reminded him of Wendy. This girl barely looked at him as she walked away from him and towards her house. He called to her. Suddenly, someone knocked him down. He looked up to see a tall boy with black spikey hair.

"Stay away from her," he hissed at Zyon.

The boy walked with the redhead into the house.

Suddenly the door closed and Zyon fell backwards down the staircase. He almost landed on the ground, but the red dragon caught him and the blue dragon nuzzled against his face.

"I'm older now," Zyon spoke with confidence. "I have friends now. I'm not going to worry about what Wendy is doing." He walked to another door and opened it. He saw the memory from the night at the convenience store, (before they haunted stuff happened). Zyon watched himself hang out with Lee, Nate and Thompson. "Like those guys." He closed the door and looked at his dragons.

"Thanks," he said.

When he woke up, Zyon felt his previous worries had faded away. He grabbed his phone and typed out a message to Lee.

 _Hey man, wuz up? You up for hangin' at the skate park?_

Just as he finished the message, her heard a familiar voice call him.

"Hey, Zyon, are you up yet?" his mom yelled from outside his door.

"Yeah," he called back.

"Come down stairs, I got something for you."

Zyon threw on some clothes and rushed out into the hallway. His mom jumped back as he ran out of his room.

"Oh, you're ready now." She flashed a smile, showing her row of perfect white teeth against her dark skin. Her short bob cut hair bounced as she hurried down the stairs. "Come on. Your father is at the table."

Zyon walked into the kitchen to see his dad holding a palm pilot in one hand and the wand in the other as he pointed at different icons.

"What's going on, dad?"

"Hold on, just setting up some appointments. I never thought people in such a backwater town would need a lawyer so bad, but apparently lawsuits happen a lot here."

"Like what?" Zyon asked further.

"Well, like, a lot of weird stuff happens here. Someone is suing someone else for assault and battery. Apparently, a car hit this person, but the driver swears they were distracted by a group of minotaur running to the woods. Also, the lady who is a waitress at the diner wants to sue her eye doctor because the contacts he gave her makes her see gnomes stealing pies off her window sill. God, these people are weird. I'm not sure they need a lawyer as much as they need a psychiatrist.

"Don't start talking to me about weird," Mrs. Anderson stated as she grabbed some eggs from the fridge. "I work with the Sherriff and Deputy of this town!"

"Do you see minotaur and gnomes?" Zyon asked her.

She shut the fridge and set the eggs on the countertop. "No, I watch those two wannabe police officers stop at a fire hydrant spouting out water and run around in that water without their shirts on! I'm still waiting for them to do some real police work. I guess the case of a wax figure getting its head chopped off could have been the closest thing they had to a case, but they refused to take it."

Mr. Anderson sighed. "At this rate, I'm thinking of moving back to our old house."

Zyon's heart fell. "No Dad, we can't move back! I—I actually have friends here! A—

And I have a job—a job that I really like!"

"Oh yeah, your job at that tourist trap, what is it called, The Mystery Hack?"

"Shack, Dad. Mystery Shack."

"Yeah, that old man that runs it. I'm surprised he isn't getting sued for doing something illegal."

"It's just a fun place to take the kids, Darrien," his wife said

"Trish, please. That place was made by a conman," he responded.

"Either way, Dad. I'm earning my own money," Zyon reminded him.

His father gave him a thoughtful look. "That's true. We'll try it here for a few more months. I'm not even sure about the high schools around here either."

"School, Darrien. There's only one elementary school, one middle school and one high school," Trish said.

"Right. If it doesn't work out, you can just go back to your old school, Zyon," his father said.

Zyon sat down and watched his mom scramble eggs and flip bacon. He hoped more than anything that his parents would start to like Gravity Falls. He had no interest in moving back to their old home.

Two hours later, Zyon stood with Lee, Nate and Thompson at the skate park. The three dared Thompson to skateboard down a ramp on one foot. Thompson already wobbled around on the board on both his feet.

"Come on Thompson! One foot!" Lee shouted.

"One foot! One foot!" Everyone chanted.

Thompson slowly lifted one foot off the board. A few tiny rolls back and forth and then he flew forward, crying out as the board slid the down the ramp. The others watched I awe as the large kid actually stayed on until he reached the bottom of the ramp.

"Hey! I did it!" Thompson yelled.

Then, he fell off the board, landing on his back. The others laughed hysterically.

"So Z," Lee began. "You said your mom's a cop? Does she see dead bodies all the time?"

Zyon turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "You like dead stuff don't ya?" he concluded.

Lee shrugged. Then Nate chimed in.

"You know who once touched a dead body?"

Zyon shook his head. "Who, man?"

"Robbie."

It just took that one name to ruin Zyon's mood.

"Man, he was trippin' on me back at the store," Zyon replied. "He has issues. I'm not surprised if he touched a dead body. In fact, he's one of those people who believes he's some tortured soul and probably pretends he's already dead!"

The other two boys stared in response to his outburst.

"So, I'm gonna guess you have an issue with Robbie," Lee said.

"Don't you guys?" Zyon returned a rebuttal.

They turned to each other with clueless stares.

"Well?" he pushed.

Nate uttered a sound. "We—uh— Hey Thompson!" he yelled as the large kid walked over. Nate followed up by giving him a high fived. "Awesome boarding, dude!"

"Yeah, now let's get some food, cause I need to eat!" Lee said.

"Me too, but at least were not hungry and high," Nate replied.

"Not yet, anyway," Lee followed up. "But I don't got nothin'." The two turned back to Thompson.

"Hey Thompson, we have an errand for you to run," Nate said.

A big grin formed on the fat kid's mouth. "I'll do it guys! Whatever you want!" he cried out. Nate put an arm around Thompson's thick neck.

"Text Wendy, see if she got grass."

Thompson hastily typed on his phone. He waited a moment.

"I told her we're here at the skating park."

"And?" Nate pushed.

"I'm still waiting," he half whined.

"Uh, what do you mean by 'grass?' Zyon asked.

Nate and Lee did a quick glance at each other.

"Dude, don't ya know what grass is?" Lee asked.

At the risk of appearing out of touch with typical slang, Zyon shook his head.

"Man, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Nate burst. He bent down to whisper into Zyon's ear. "It means marijuana." The teen's eyes opened wide. His mom was a police officer and his dad was a lawyer. He had never gotten ten feet within the green substance.

"Hey, it's cool if you never smoked it before. There's a first time for everything," Lee said. "But, just so you know, we smoke it a lot!"

Suddenly, Thompson's phone beeped. After reading the text, his mouth curved upward.

"She says she's at a fair with Robbie."

Zyon felt his stomach drop.

"What's she doing with Robbie?"

The phone beeped again.

" _Wuz up? Robbie and I are official now!"_ Thompson read.

Zyon suddenly lost feeling in his legs.

"Not surprised," Nate said.

One more beep on the phone.

 _"Got hit in the face with a baseball after it ricocheted off the bottles. Won't say who threw the ball, but his initials are D.P. Lol! I know he didn't mean it, but Robbie used his snow cone to make the swelling go down."_

"Who is D.P?" Zyon asked.

The others shrugged their shoulders.

"Dude, find out where the fair is?" Lee told Thompson.

Thompson typed the question with his thumbs, but Zyon fell into his own head. Wendy was dating Robbie. _Everything is different now._ He thought to himself.

"The fair is by the Mystery Shack. Her boss is putting it on." He turned to Zyon. "He's your boss too, right?"

"Wait, you mean, Mr. Pines? He's running a fair?"

"Yeah, let's go already," Nate said, impatiently. "Wendy's got the green!"

When the four teens arrived at the fair, they saw all the games, possibly rigged games. Zyon didn't see Wendy or Robbie anywhere.

"Where are they?" Nate asked Thompson. The large kid keyed the message. "Behind the dunk tank."

"Dunk tank?" Zyon asked. Everyone's attention was drawn by a voice shouting through a megaphone.

"Hey! Come on Losers! I got a year's supply of brown meat to whoever can make me fall!" Zyon looked through the crowd to see his boss sitting on the chair inside the dunk tank. This was too perfect!

"So, uh, since we can't find Wendy, maybe we can play some games," Zyon suggested.

"All these games are lame, man," Lee responded.

"Which one were ya thinkin' about?" Nate asked.

Zyon pointed at the tank.

"Oh, yeah, make that old man fall into the water!" Lee exclaimed.

The person in line before the teens just threw the ball at the target, which bounced off the target, yet did not trip the lever that would cause the seat to drop.

The man, maybe in his twenties walked away with a scowl as Stan mocked him with laughter. Zyon paid Soos, who gave him a ball.

"One shot, Dude," he said.

He took the ball and threw it as hard as he could. The ball hit the center of the target and bounced off, not affecting the old man's state.

"Come on! This game is rigged, Mr. P!" Zyon yelled. "You're cheating!"

"Hey! Don't forget who signs your paychecks, Kid!" Stan yelled through the microphone.

Zyon raised an eyebrow. "Soos?"

"Get out of here!" the old man shouted, causing a loud ring burst through the fairgrounds.

Zyon turned away. He moved away from the tank. No one noticed him waving his hand or the blue tinted glow that formed around his body. However, everyone turned to Stan screaming as the seat under him collapsed and he fell into the water. Everyone around to witness the sight, cheered.

"Good job, Dude," Soos congratulated Zyon. "I guess I'm supposed to give you this." He handed the teen a coupon that read One Free Wax. Zyon looked at the date at the bottom, which expired in 1982. He narrowed his eyes at the so called prize.

"Wow! That's all I can say right now," he said with sarcasm.

"Hey! Wendy and Robbie are coming over!" Nate yelled.

Zyon turned to the couple.

"Hey guys!" she greeted.

"Wuz up?" Zyon replied, ignoring Robbie's glare.

"You got the stuff?" Lee asked.

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I have the perfect place for us to go."

Moments later the group of teenagers sat on the roof of the Mystery Shack. The tourist trap was closed for the day as everyone was at the fair. Wendy started the joint and passed it around. Robbie hit it like it was a normal ritual. Lee and Nate took a hit like it was an every day occurrence. Thompson was the only one who choked. The others laughed.

"Man, how is it that you still can't take it?" Lee commented.

Thompson hacked in response. Then he handed the rolled up paper to Zyon. He took it, his eyes studying the joint.

"Come on, Z, hit it!" Wendy urged.

"Yeah, before it goes out," Robbie followed cynically. Zyon slowly put it to his mouth and breathed in. He felt the stuff infect his lungs; they started to burn. He coughed out the smoke.

"You too? Haven't you ever smoked before?" Robbie mocked.

"No," Zyon answered before he thought it over.

Wendy and Robbie stared wide-eyed at him.

"Yeah, he's never smoked before, despite his mom being a cop," Lee said. "Doesn't she like have the stuff on her all the time?" Wendy asked.

"No, why would she—"

"Because the cops around here do," Nate said. "All they do is confiscate it from anyone who has the stuff."

Zyon shrugged. "I've never been offered before," he said.

Wendy smiled. "It's cool, Dude. So this is your first time. Do you think you'll do this again?"

Zyon replied with his own smile. "Yeah, sure."

His eyes gazed up. He smiled as he saw Crimson and Oceana flying above. Of course, he knew he was the only one who could see them...or so he thought.

"What's that?" Wendy asked as she stared upwards.

"T-those look like—large birds?" Nate replied.

Screeches echoed throughout the sky.

"Birds? Those look like dragons, man!" Lee said.

Robbie rolled his eyes. "Yeah okay. You're cut off."

"No. I think they are," Wendy said.

"W-where did they come from?" Thompson freaked out. "A-are t-they g-going to e-eat us?"

"No!" Zyon yelled. They turned to him in surprise. "I mean, probably not?"

Suddenly, a voice from down below distracted everyone.

"I can't believe I got a pig!"

Zyon recognized Dipper and Mabel walking into the shack, followed by Soos and Stan.

"Yeah, just remember, you owe me now, Mabel!" Dipper replied.

"No problem, bro-bro."

Mabel began walking into the shack, holding her new pig.

"Hey! Hey!" Stan yelled. "You aint puttin' that piece of bacon in the house!"

"His name is Waddles!"

"I don't care!"

"Please, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel begged. "If I leave him outside, a predator will get him."

Stan let out a long sigh. "Fine, but keep it up in the attic. Who knows, I might get hungry later."

The teens quickly left and headed back to the fair ground. They noticed people just standing around pointing at the sky. Zyon looked up. His dragons were just flying about. How was this possible? No one should be able to see them.

As the small group of teens walked through the fairgrounds, the noticed the few who still were around looked up towards the sky. Zyon followed their glance upwards where Crimson and Oceana twirled each other, dancing in the sky as if they just learned how to fly.

"What type of birds are those?" An elderly man with a cane asked.

"Get your eyes checked old man!" the younger gentleman next to him yelled.

"Those are dragons!"

"Dragons? You need to stop playing those brain rotting video games."

"Oh my God! What are those things?" A woman nearby yelled as she pointed upwards.

"Cool! I wanna ride them!" her son next to her spoke with enthusiasm.

"Not a chance!" The woman yelled.

Everyone was freaking out. Zyon turned to his friends who just stared up at the magnificent beasts in awe. No one made the connection that the dragons belonged to Zyon. He sighed with relief as the two dragons flew up into the clouds and out of sight.

"Was that it?" Robbie stated scornfully.

"Was that it?" Zyon echoed, aghast. "You just saw two dragons!"

Robbie rolled his eyes. "We live in Gravity Falls. Just last week you visited a haunted convenience store."

"I don't know. I thought they were pretty cool," Wendy said.

Zyon's heart lifted. "Thanks," he said before he realized it.

The eyes of the other teenagers gazed upon him. "Thanks for what?" Lee asked.

Zyon's eyes wavered as he quickly thought up an excuse. "Uh, I mean, thanks for thinking they're cool because—" he felt his face getting hot. "—I think they're cool too."

Wendy flashed him a smile. "Yeah, Z, they are."

The sun had set by the time Zyon returned home. He was thankful for once to walk into a dark, quiet house. When he looked into the mirror inside the bathroom, he saw how bloodshot his eyes appeared, probably from the marijuana. He sort of smelled like it too. With his mom being a police officer, she would know right away! He quickly changed and threw his clothes in the laundry basket under other dirty clothing. Wendy gave him some eye drops to use. He held the tiny bottle above his eye and squeezed. The sudden shock made his eye close immediately. The liquid stung his eye for a few moments. He breathed deeply and did the same to the other eye.

Walking over to his computer, Zyon checked to see who was online. As he stared at the screen, two glowing orbs floated through his window. The teenager turned to see Crimson and Oceana as tiny versions of themselves, huddling in the corner of the room.

"There you two are!" Zyon exclaimed. "I saw you both flying up there! Do you know that everyone saw you?"

Crimson snorted and Oceana made a tiny squawk.

"You remember what _he_ said. You need to stay hidden. There will be dire consequences if anyone finds out that you two are bonded to me."

 _"How would anyone know?"_ he heard Crimson's voice inside his head.

"I don't know! I just don't want something happening to you two!"

 _"You sound like your dad,"_ Oceana teased.

"What?! No, no, I just—"

 _"We'll be careful from now on,"_ Crimson replied. _"We just wanted to see the town. This place has lots of secrets."_

"I'm beginning to realize that," Zyon said as he lay on his bed.

Usually he did not get to bed until after midnight most nights, but this night, he fell asleep at approximately nine-thirty.

 **N/A: So, the dragons are an idea from Core of Justice. I gave them the names. The dragons are inspired by the ones from Game of Thrones. Anyway, hope you all liked it. Feel free to leave a review with what you liked or helpful criticism. Thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4: SUMMERween?

**_This is about the time Summerween happens in the show._** ** _Actually someone in another fanfic said it was June 22, so I'm a little late. However, I'm still going to do a Summerween chapter, taking some ideas from the show and adding in my own stuff. There's going to be two parts to this episode. Here is part one._**

 ** _Enjoy!_**

Chapter 4: SUMMERween?

Zyon walked down the usual road he took to the Mystery Shack. His feet stopped and his eyes shifted to a building he never saw before on this path. The giant sign on the roof read, _Summerween Superstore._ His eyes narrowed with curiosity at the sign. Looking at his phone, he saw he had a half hour before his sift began at work. It was only a ten-minute walk from where he stood. He had some time to kill.

Upon entering the store, Zyon found himself immersed in a world of Halloween. He loved Halloween! Though, he was surprised to see the store popping up around this time of year. The brunette at the register eyed him carefully.

"Is there an adult with you?" she asked.

Zyon returned the same skeptical glare. "I'm fifteen," he said. The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. Zyon noticed that she kept her eyes on him as he walked down one of the aisles. It seemed like many store owners in this town had problems with teenagers and children coming into the stores alone. Seeing what happened to the lady in that other store he visited not too long ago, he could see why.

As the teenage boy looked around at the fake, scary decorations, he heard some familiar voices. He peeked around a plastic witch by a caldron to see who it was. His eyes popped wide open as he saw Dipper and Mabel talking to Stan.

He heard the old man's gruff voice. "Get as much as your little arms can carry, kids! This is going to be the best Summerween ever!"

Mabel came running around the corner, almost running Zyon over. She halted immediately.

"Hey! Are you getting your costume for Summerween?" she asked.

"What's Summerween?" Zyon asked.

"Its Halloween in the summer!" Mabel exclaimed. "My grunkle is going to give out candy and me and Dipper are going trick or treating!" A tiny laugh escaped Zyon's mouth. "You two still trick or treat?"

Mabel's smile fell. "What's wrong with that? What are you doing for Summerween?" she returned sourly. Suddenly, his phone beeped.

He pulled out his phone and looked at the text.

Zyon shrugged. "I'm going to a party," he said.

He showed the invitation that Tambry just sent him. Mabel looked at the screen showing an orange flyer with black lettering reading, _Tambry's Summerween Party: Bottles will be spun_. _No pictures better end up online._

Mabel did her own shrug with her hands. "Dipper and me will have our own party after we get all that candy! To the candy isle!" she screamed as she bounced off.

Zyon walked into the area with all the costumes. This was pretty late notice on Tambry's part, but it wasn't like he had any plans that evening after work. Speaking of which, he had to be to work in twenty minutes. Then again, his boss was at the store. He had more time as long as Stan was here too. His eyes scanned over the possible choices, a pirate, a vampire, a warlock, a hippie...choices...choices...

Grazing over the plastic bags, he saw one that called to him, Dragon Warrior. It was perfect! The garment appeared medieval with gold plated armor and armbands. There was also a fierce looking golden head garment with spikes protruding from the helm. He took the costume and headed towards the front. Suddenly a voice came over the PA system.

"Have the police eject the Pines family from the store!"

"Not today!" Stan shouted as threw a smoke bomb at the cashier and pushed a cart full of merchandize out the exit doors with his niece and nephew chasing after him. Zyon Slowly walked over to the counter as the smoke cleared. The woman still coughed and hacked for a moment. The large man who was the store's security walked over.

"You missed them!" the woman shouted angrily. The three looked outside as a red Oldsmobile backed into the telephone phone knocking it onto a giant billboard of a jack-o-melon.

"Let's move!" Stan yelled as he sped away.

Zyon slapped the costume onto the counter.

"Can I hurry up and pay for this, I gotta beat my boss to work!"

When Zyon got to the shack, he saw Stan's car parked diagonally on the grass. He let out a sigh and prepared himself for his boss's rant on him being late to his job. However, he walked inside to see Soos scowling down at him.

"You're late. Not cool, Dude."

Zyon raised an eyebrow. "You're lecturing me? Where's Mr. P?"

"He's uh—planning for tonight. You know its Summerween, right?"

"Yeah, that's the reason I'm late," Zyon explained. "I stopped by the store to get a costume." He showed Soos the dragon warrior outfit.

"Whoa! Cool!" he exclaimed. "So, you goin' trick or treating?"

Zyon rolled his eyes. "No, man. I'm going to Tambry's party?"

"You are?" he heard his female coworker's voice.

Zyon turned to see Wendy walk through the shop entrance. Soos crossed his arms as he stared sternly at her."

"Wendy, you're late too!"

"Oh, sorry Mr. Ramiez," she answered with a sarcastic tone as she rolled her eyes. "Are you being Stan today?"

"I had to. Stan took Dipper and Mabel to the summerween store. Someone had to stay here and take on the duty of managing the shack." He laughed lightly. "That a funny word, 'duty.'"

At that moment, Stan stuck his head into the shop from inside the house.

"Hey Soos, anything to report?" he asked.

Wendy mouthed to him, 'Don't tell him I was late.'

"Uh," he turned to see Stan furrow his brow with a stern glare. "Zyon and Wendy came in late," he said quickly then left the room. Wendy let out a groan.

"Soos!" she yelled.

Stan stared both his employees down. "So, both of you were late today?" Wendy looked away. Zyon saw the killer stare on his boss' face and broke.

"I'm sorry, sir!" he began. "I stopped by the Halloween store, or I mean the summerween store? Uh—I saw you guys there—"

Stan's glare softened. "You were at the store? Did you happen to witness anything like, I don't know, a basket of candy and decorations being pushed out the door after being paid for by my own currency I named Stanbucks?"

Zyon raised an eyebrow with a smirk lining his lips. "You mean, did I witness you shoplifting after throwing a smoke bomb at the cashier?" The two stood in silence, staring at each other.

"Uh, I'll let you two off with a warning. No more being late, okay?" Stan finished his half threat and hurried back into the house.

"Dude, that was awesome, Z," Wendy said.

Zyon smiled at the redhead. "I guess it's a good thing I went to the store." He held up his costume. "I'm wearing this to Tambry's party. It's cool, right?"

Wendy looked over at the picture of the model on the bag. "Yeah. I've got a costume too. You'll see it at the party."

"I don't get a hint?" Zyon tried.

"It's totally opposite of me," she responded.

Zyon narrowed his eyes in thought. "Like what? A fairy princess or something?"

Wendy burst out laughing.

"Oh my God! I'd never dress up like that! No, you'll see," she said.

A few costumers walked in and aimlessly wondered the shop. Stan walked in and began his usual spiel, trying to entice the couple to go on a tour.

As time went on, more and more visitors came to visit the Shack. One of these people was Robbie. As soon as the Emo walked in, Zyon felt the liveliness of the place drop. He made a direct path right to Wendy, leaning on the counter.

"So, I'll pick you up for Tamby's party around eight. We can get some food first.

"Sounds good," Wendy agreed. Then her eyes went to Zyon. "Hey, how are you getting to the party?" she asked. Robbie's eyes widened at the thought of the new kid getting invited to what would be known in this town as the biggest Summerween bash of the year.

"Whoa, Wait! How did you get invited?" Robbie protested.

Zyon opened his mouth to answer, but only a small sound escaped.

"What do you mean, Robbie?" Wendy said crossly. "He's hung out with us for a while. Why wouldn't Tambry invite him?" Robbie responded with a grunt.

"Yeah, man. Tambry and me are cool," Zyon answered. He felt a sense of pride when he told Robbie his confident connection to the group. However, the dark clad teen returned a glare and Zyon lost his words. Instead, he started his daily routine at the shop as he opened new boxes of snow globes, key chains, and bobble heads. He stacked the shelves full of the cheaply made items, periodically turning to eavesdrop on the conversation between Wendy and Robbie.

"So, how skimpy is this costume you're wearing?" Robbie asked with a dopey grin. Wendy playfully shoved him.

"Shut up, Robbie," she said giggling. "You'll see it at the party."

"But, I'm picking you up for the party."

"Yeah, I'm changing at Tambry's. She and I are doing the ensemble together."

Now Zyon wondered what her costume looked like. He began picturing her in whatever his mind came up with until he realized he wasn't getting any work done.

Stan walked into the shop leading the couple he took on the tour, inside.

"And here, we have the magnificent shop where you can find only the rarest of treasures to take home with you. For a price, of course," he curtly strung on. He turned to Wendy who was still busy talking to Robbie.

"And this lovely young lady is going to be a model employee and ring up any items you may purchase properly." Wendy still wasn't paying any attention. Stan cleared his throat. "Ahem!" Wendy looked up at her boss's stern face. She smiled and moved in front of the register.

"I gotta get going anyway," Robbie said, not even caring about Stan's burning glare on the back of his head. "I'll be back later." He carelessly walked out the door of the shop. Zyon breathed a little easier after Robbie left.

"After the couple left with their purchases, Zyon walked over to the register.

"So, I don't know where Tambry lives, exactly," Zyon said to Wendy.

Wendy's mouth fell open. "Oh Z, I'm sorry, we were talking about that and I totally spaced out on you. Did you want to ride with me and Robbie?"

Zyon pictured that for a moment inside his head. He wasn't sure he wanted to be stuck in a vehicle with Robbie driving.

"I can get a ride with Thompson," he said quickly. Wendy nodded.

The day moved on at a painfully slow pace. There weren't as many costumers as usual. However, Stan didn't seem to mind as he frequently disappeared into the house, mumbling about getting all of his tricks ready for the visitors later.

Thompson arrived at Zyon's place about quarter to nine. He was always punctual, but Zyon wasn't. He just got out of the shower when his ride showed up.

"Zyon," his mother called from downstairs. "You're friends are here."

"Just tell them to hold on a minute," Zyon called over the railing from the second floor. He quickly put on his costume, which was in parts. The black robe-like cloth was easy enough. Then he put on the gold rubber breastplate. It felt a little awkward, as if someone larger than him was meant to wear it. He slid on the cloth pieces on his arms and put on his black boots. Then, he put on the headpiece. From the picture, the headpiece looked pretty solid. However when he took it out of the package, it was a stupid piece of cloth connected to a bigger piece of rubber. He put it on and tied it in the back. After a moment looking himself over in the mirror, he pulled it off. No way was he looking like some fantasy roleplaying reject.

"Zyon," he mother called. "You're friends are waiting! Hurry up!" Her voice progressively grew impatient. He barely glimpsed at the mirror to check his hair, which spiked upwards as usual.

Moments later, he came running down the stairs. His mom turned to him.

"You have your phone on you?" He nodded. "Okay. Call me if there's any problems." She hugged her son, who returned the affection quickly, before pulling away and following his friends out the door.

Once in Thompson's van, Zyon felt the freedom of being out of the house.

"Hey Z," Lee greeted casually. Zyon high fived him, then turned to Nate and did the same.

"Hey," Nate said from the front seat. He turned to Thompson.

"Alright, step on it, T."

Thompson slowly applied pressure to the gas pedal as to not do anything harsh that would ruin the transmission of his mom's van.

The van drove towards a Victorian style home and parked on the street. Orange lights covered the front and fake gravestones stood throughout the front yard. Tiki lamps lined the walkway up to the house. Zyon made a small laugh as he saw the carved jack-o-melon on the porch step.

"I don't know. I find it weird that for Summerween, people carve watermelons, instead of pumpkins." Then he realized that pumpkins weren't in season this time of year. "Well, I guess it makes sense since it's June."

"Yeah, it is kind of strange," Lee admitted. "I've always lived in this town, so I've celebrated the holiday since I was born."

Zyon nodded. "True that."

Entering the house, loud music erupted in their eardrums. Not too many guests had arrived, but Zyon saw Wendy and Robbie in the corner. He walked with the other three he came with, as they walked to where Tambry stood with another girl Zyon didn't recognize. Tambry wore a black two-piece outfit with a cut off shirt and skirt. Black feathery wings hung on her back. Her friend wore a nurse outfit with a bunch of fake blood all over her white outfit.

"Yo Tambry," Nate yelled to her.

She glanced up for a quick moment from her phone. "Hey," she responded low key. The girl next to her with pink hair was also busy on her phone. "Oh, this is my friend, Korine. The new girl barely grunted a greeting.

"Hey Kor—een," Nate said.

She looked up from her phone. "It's Kor—ine."

"Right, so where's Tambry been hiddin' ya? I've never seen ya before?"

Tambry rolled her eyes. "If you're going to hit on my friend, Nate, at least don't be an ass while doing it."

"Oh, you thought I— Oh, that's funny Tambry," he forced a laugh. Zyon lost interest quickly and looked over at Wendy who was suddenly alone. He hurried over.

"Hey, Wendy," Zyon waved at her.

"Z! You're here. That costume looks really cool." Zyon looked at Wendy. She had the same clothes she had on earlier at the work.

"You're not in a costume?"

"Oh, yeah, I was going to wear this skimpy costume, but I decided not put it on till later."

"Oh. Do you have it with you?"

A small smile curved up on her mouth. "I'll be right back." Wendy headed out the front door. Zyon stared after her.

"So, you actually came." He turned to the voice behind him. He looked up at Robbie.

"Yeah. I never miss a party, man," Zyon answered coolly.

The other teen continued to glare down at him. "Just so you know, Wendy is my girlfriend now."

Zyon felt his stomach tighten. "Yeah, I know," he answered casually. "It's cool."

"Oh, really? It's cool?" Robbie spat at him. "Because I get the feeling you think you can actually get her to like you."

"She's my friend," Zyon clarified. Even though it pained him to say that, he knew it was true.

"Friend, huh?" Robbie scoffed as he walked away. Zyon let out a sigh. He hated to admit it, but that guy could be intimidating.

Everyone was standing around the snack table when Wendy walked in. All eyes jumped to her and her new choice of clothing. Her outfit was very similiar to Tambry's, except it was white. Huge white feathery wings hung off her back and she wore matching white boots to complete the ensemble.

"You actually wore it," Tambry said.

Wendy covered her body as she noticed everyone's eyes were on her. "Okay you guys, stop staring at me." Everyone went back to their conversation as Robbie walked over and put an arm around Wendy.

The night went on and most of the snacks were gone in the next hour. Zyon looked at his phone. It was almost eleven. Overall, the party was kind of boring. He wanted to talk to Wendy, but that wasn't going to happen as long as Robbie was around. His ears caught the conversation between Nate and Lee.

"Okay, we need to liven this party up. Thompson, I uh, dare you to eat all the loser candy in here," he said holding up a ceramic bowl.

"That's easy!" Thompson said.

"With the wrapper still on," Lee finished. Now, the heavyset kid looked unsure.

"Come on Thompson! Do it!" Nate urged. The two started chanting his name until everyone in the room cheered him on.

"Alright! Watch this!" Thompson poured all the candy into his mouth with the wrappers still on. They watched him chew, but suddenly, he started choking. He threw up the candy into the bowl. The others laughed as they watched.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Wendy was the first one over to answer it.

On the other side of the door stood Dipper, Mabel and Soos.

"Hey! You made it!"

"No time! Let us in!" Dipper shouted.

The three ran inside.

"Question, can I use your bathroom?" Soos asked.

"Uh, yeah," Tambry answered while still looking at her phone.

"Thanks." He ran towards the hallway, then peeked his head back out. "Oh by the way, there's a scary monster after us and wants to eat us because we failed to get five-hundred pieces of candy." He ran off.

"What's he talking abou—" Wendy was cut off by a hard knock at the door.

"That's him!" Dipper squeaked.

Robbie rolled his eyes. "What's there to be scared of?"

"Fine, Robbie, if you're not scared, open the door," Wendy dared him.

"No! Don't!" Dipper cried.

"I'm not scared," Robbie said. "Thompson, dare you to open the door."

"No way!" he yelled. Then Robbie turned to Zyon.

"I bet you won't do it."

Zyon's eyes bounced from him to Wendy. "I'll do it," he said. Both of the twins yelled at Zyon to stop, but he kept going. He put one hand on the doorknob and turned. Everyone in the room held their breath as the door opened.

No one was there. Zyon turned to the twins.

"Man, you two are full of it!"

Suddenly, the lights went out. Fast paced footsteps could be heard on the roof.

"Is it going to come down the chimney?" Mabel wondered.

Everyone was silent. From above, it sounded like something scurried about from the floor above them.

"It's inside the house!" Tambry shouted.

"How would it get inside the house?" Wendy asked.

"The attic. There's a hole on one side of the roof where a bunch of squirrels chewed their way in."

"This thing is bigger than a squirrel," Mabel said.

Suddenly, they heard a scream from upstairs. "That was Soos," Dipper said in a panic. He walked over to the stairs and looked up into the darkness.

"Anyone have a flashlight?"

Zyon took out his phone. There was an app for a flashlight, but using it, took a lot from his battery. However, if Soos was in trouble, they had to go find him.

"Here, I've got my phone."

Dipper nodded and the two began to ascend the staircase. "Wait for me, bro," Mabel said.

"Me too," Wendy said as she walked over.

"Anyone else?" Dipper called to the rest.

All at once, the other teens ran screaming out of the house.

"Nope. Just us." Mabel said. The four started their way up into the darkness unsure of what they were going to find.

 ** _N/A: That's the end of part I. Part II will be coming soon. Thanks for reading!_**


	5. Chapter 5: Tricks, But No Treats

Chapter 5: Tricks, But No Treats

A small light bounced up the steps, then down the long hallway. Darkness swallowed the light before it could illuminate anything distinguishable. Everything was deadly quiet.

"What exactly are we up against, Dipper?" Zyon asked.

"He calls himself the Trickster and well, Soos told us the legend before we went Trick-or—I mean went out to watch trick-or-treaters—" Mabel sent her brother a hard stare.

"Give it up already," she said.

Dipper sighed. "Okay, look Wendy. I didn't come to the party because I was with Mabel and her friends. I somehow insulted the Trickster by our quote 'insulting costumes and fake decorations. We had to trick or treat to get five hundred pieces of candy and—that's why I didn't come! I would have if that monster didn't show up!" His eyes slowly moved to Mabel. She turned away.

"What happened to your friends, Mabel?" Wendy asked. She kept her head down

"They—they didn't make it," she breathed deeply. Wendy heard the cracking her Mabel's voice. She put her arms around the girl.

"Mabel—" she began.

"That thing just ate them," Dipper exclaimed. Wendy and Zyon stared with horrified eyes.

"So, what are we going to do once we find this thing?" Zyon asked. Wendy pounded her hand with a fist. "I know what I'm doing!"

"It's a really huge monster, Wendy," Dipper told her.

"I gotcha," she replied with a half smile. She walked over to a small table displaying a decorative vase below a vanity mirror. She carefully placed the vase on the floor, then turned the table over and tore off one of the legs. Everyone cringed at the sound of wood snapping in half. She held up the piece of wood with the nail sticking out at the top.

"This will do just fine," she said. Zyon raised an eyebrow. He always thought Wendy was cool, but her actions just added to his overall fondness of her.

"Hey, can I get a leg too?" Mabel asked.

Wendy peered down at the table. "We each can get a leg," she gestured to the soon to be demolished piece of furniture. Everyone tore off a leg, leaving the top of the table turned upside down.

The four moved on down the hallway until they came to an open door. Wendy pushed the door open the rest of the way and walked into the dark room.

"Be careful," Zyon called to her. He held out his phone to shine the light around the area.

"I don't see any monsters," Wendy said. Her eyes scanned the darkness while she gripped tightly onto the piece of wood she used as a weapon.

As the four of them stood around, a shadow passed by the door. Zyon spun around.

"I just saw something run down the hallway," he said. Wendy moved swiftly over to the door and peered around the corner. Zyon followed her with the light and shined it down the corridor. All of the sudden, something jumped up to the ceiling. It crawled towards the two.

"W-what is that thing?" Wendy cried out. Dipper looked around and upwards.

"That's the monster!" Everyone screamed and ran back into the room. Dipper shut the door. Wendy and Zyon began pushing a dresser the entrance into the room. Loud pounds came from outside. Everyone backed away from the door, gripping the pieces of wood like clubs.

"Hello children," they heard a deep raspy voice on the other side of the door. "I've got your friend with me, he wants to talk to you."

"Dudes! Help me!" Horrified faces stared at the door as they recognized Soos' voice.

"L-Let our f-friend go!" Dipper shouted as bravely as he could.

Only silence answered back.

"Soos?" Mabel called. Another few loud bashes erupted against the door.

"Come on in! We've got a whole bunch of pain waiting for you on the other side!" Wendy yelled.

The pounding stopped. The four stood in silence again. Something tapped on the window, causing everyone to jump around.

"He's over by the window!" Dipper yelled. The four of them slowly approached the other side of the room. Suddenly, a knock came at the door.

"Dudes? Are you in there?" The kids turned back to the door.

"Soos?" Mabel asked.

Something tapped on the glass again.

"Okay, this is getting stupid!" Wendy cried out.

Another knock came at the door again. "Hey you guys, let me in, please?"

"We're not stupid!" Dipper yelled. "We know it's you out there, monster!"

Loud pounding erupted came from the door. "If you children won't give me what I want, I'm going to come in there and eat you!" A few more loud pounds and the wooden door shattered. The monster held up its claws, which looked like hatchets and sliced into the dresser, severing it in half. It slithered in, it's bones cracked as it walked. Zyon knew nothing about the legend of this monster. He stared up at the tall figure wearing a pointed hat, it's face hidden in shadow.

Wendy didn't waste time. She charged at the thing, swinging her manmade club into its body. The nail stuck in the creature's black skin. Before Wendy could pull it out, the skin liquefied, and ran over the wooden club, pulling it inside its body. The other three attacked the creature only to have the same happen to their weapons.

"Quick! Head for the window!" Wendy shouted. The four raced over and the redhead lifted the bottom pane. She jumped to the nearby tree branch then turned to the rest.

"Come on!" she yelled.

Dipper looked at Mabel, "You go first." She looked at the distance between the house and tree.

She stood on the window ledge, swung her arms and jumped to the tree. Dipper followed.

"Come on Z!" Wendy yelled. He looked down from the window. From the ground, the window didn't seem to high up, but now that he was up there, Zyon felt paralyzed. He wanted to jump, but his feet wouldn't move. Suddenly, the creature grabbed him and pulled him back inside. As it raised Zyon over its open mouth, two orbs of red and blue appeared around him. They glowed bright moving into one another, creating a larger violet sphere. From within the sphere, a stream of energy shot out, severing the monster's arm. Zyon fell to the floor. Quickly, he got to his feet and ran to the window. He didn't give time to thought as he jumped across to the tree branch.

"Dude, you okay?" Wendy asked. "What was all that light in there?"

Zyon searched for the words to say. However, he didn't have to give her an answer. The Trickster jumped from the window onto the roof. He glared down at them with a sick smile. The kids cried out as they climbed down the tree. Zyon had no idea how he got out of the tree so fast, but he was on the ground before he knew it, running with everyone else.

The kids ran down the empty street. All homes were dark, even their decorative lights were out. Up in the sky, a low, full moon with a yellow glow followed them.

"Where are we going?" Zyon wondered.

Racing footsteps tapped from not too far away. Looking upward, the kids saw the Trickster ran and jumped along the rooftops.

"We can't outrun him like this!" Dipper yelled.

Wendy turned her head; her eyes lit up. "Hey! It's Robbie's van! I think I see him in there!"

"Oh Great!" Both Zyon and Dipper responded sarcastically.

Wendy was the first one to the van. Muffled rock music seeped out. She tapped on the window. Robbie turned around and rolled down the window. The smell of marijuana flew out from the truck.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" he asked a little too coolly for the situation.

Suddenly, the Trickster landed in front of the van. Everyone cried out. Wendy, Zyon, Dipper and Mabel rushed into the van.

"Just drive!" Wendy shouted. Robbie pushed the accelerator all the way down. The van took off, smashing into the monster. Parts of the creature flew everywhere. Mabel stuck her head out the window seeing the monster's arms legs and torso scattered everywhere.

"That's for Candy and Grenda!" she screamed. "And possibly Soos," she quickly added.

"We don't know if that thing ate Soos too," Dipper said.

"That's why I said, 'possibly,' she replied hastily.

"What is with this aggressive attitude?"

Mabel rolled her eyes. "I went trick or treating with you," the male twin replied.

"Because you didn't have any other choice!" Mabel lashed out.

"Uh, can you guys have your sibling drama later," Zyon interrupted. Both twins glared at him.

"It's what siblings do," Wendy explained.

"Where the hell am I driving to?" Robbie yelled.

"Well, if the monster is defeated, you can stop the van," Wendy replied.

"Good!" Robbie slammed on the breaks sending everyone in the back to the floor.

Wendy took off her seatbelt and turned around to check on the others.

"You guys okay?" A collective moan responded back.

"It sounds like they're fine. Now get out!"

Wendy narrowed her eyes at her current boyfriend. "What the hell is your problem?" He turned to her a searing glare.

"I was sitting here chilling before you all came bringing that monster with you!"

"You know what? Never mind!" Wendy screamed as she jumped out of the vehicle and slammed the door. Dipper opened the back door and rushed out after Wendy.

"Hey!" he called after her. Zyon immediately went out the other way with Mabel who wasn't staying in the van alone with Robbie. Zyon rushed over to where his crush and his rival stood.

"Don't worry about him. Wendy!" Zyon said to her.

"Yeah," Dipper added with a smile. "Besides, you can do better."

"A lot better," Zyon added, stepping in front of Dipper.

Wendy let out a groan. "I can't believe Robbie is acting this way." The sound of screeching tires pieced their ears as the van sped off.

"Did he just leave us here?" Zyon asked aghast.

"Well, at least the monster is dead" Dipper said.

Just as he said that, the scattered parts of the monster moved towards each other and reassembled. As he reformed, smoke steamed out from his body, the black substance that formed his skin burned away leaving red flesh behind. His eyes flashed a golden tint.

"What the hell?!" Wendy yelled.

"What do we do now?" Mabel cried out.

Dipper took out a hard cover book. Zyon recognized it being the same book he had at the convenience store. He began desperately flipping the pages. The Trickster moved closer to the group.

"Forget the damn book!" Zyon cried. "Who the hell reads a book when fighting a monster?"

"You don't understand, this book has all the information on the supernatural stuff in this town!"

"Let me see it," Zyon tried. He grabbed the top part of the book.

"No!" Dipper yelled as he yanked it back. Suddenly, a ball of fire flew passed them.

"We need to get out of here!" Wendy shouted. She turned, leading the others down the street. They ran across various yards, avoiding the shots of fire and lightning from the monster's hands. The group stood by a shed in someone's backyard. Wendy moved her hand to hit something. It felt familiar. As she lifted the wooden handle, she realized it was an axe, her axe.

"Hey! I know where we are, guys! We're in my backyard." The Trickster landed in front of the group. Wendy charged at the monster with her weapon raised. She swung, making contact with the monster's torso, the blade cut deep. Wendy pulled the axe out of its skin, leaving a gash. However, no blood seeped out. Deep within the flesh of the creature, she saw bright flames burning inside. Her eyes sprang wide open as she was lifted off the ground and held over the monster's mouth.

"Wendy!" Dipper yelled. He searched desperately for anything he could use as a weapon. Having nothing else, he threw a piece of candy at it. The wrapper burned away as soon as it hit its skin. The candy melted until it appeared like leathery skin. Then, he was seized by the monster's other hand. Before the monster could swallow them, he was pummeled by rocks. Zyon threw as many large stones as he could find. Mabel joined him. Suddenly, two more arms grew from the monster's body. The grabbed both of his assailants.

"This is the end for all of you," the Trickster growled. "For every soul who mocks the ancient night of sacrifice with childish game of dress up and greed of sweets! For every soul who places a false decoration where skulls and flesh should hang! I shall destroy them all!"

The monster's great mouth opened, shown long, sharp teeth ready to crunch them. Zyon shut his eyes and clenched his teeth, his thoughts racing.

 _This isn't happening! I refuse to let this happen! It won't end like this!_

It was then, two orbs appeared around him. From the orbs, Crimson and Oceana took their true forms. The two magnificent dragons breathed out their fire, burning the Trickster. He dropped his victims, a violet ball of light engulfing him until his body tore apart. Bones and flesh fell to the ground and burned to ash, which blew away in the wind.

Everyone stared at the spot where the monster once stood. Three lumps of flesh sat in front of them.

"Well that just happened," Dipper stated.

"What are those?" Mabel asked.

Suddenly, the outer shell tore apart. Soos, Candy and Grenda pushed there way out of the puse infested globs.

"Dude, I definitely need a shower," Soos said.

"I am forever soiled!" Candy wailed.

"I wanna go again!" Grenda shouted.

Mabel ran to her friends while Wendy and Dipper ran over to Soos. Zyon watched as they friends had their reunion.

Simultaneously, three pairs of eyes fell on Zyon.

"Hold on!" Wendy shouted. "Those dragons we saw at the fair. They belong to you?"

Zyon sighed, realizing his secret was out.

"I-uh-it's a long story. I could take you out to dinner, Wendy and tell you all about it." Wendy returned a vacant stare. "No, I guess not. So, psychics run in my family—as well as owning spirit dragons. I have ancestors from Medieval times who had the dragons and now I have them."

"Really?" Dipper asked, not hiding the skepticism in his voice. "Why did you hide them?"

"Are you serious? You think I should just tell everyone that I have my own personal pet dragons? I thought you would understand, since you have that book you keep hidden."

Dipper turned away, carefully guarding his vest where he kept the journal.

"How about we head to the Mystery Shack to hang out," Wendy suggested. "We need to sit and chill after you know, almost getting eaten by some summoned creature from Hell."

The others nodded.

At the shack, Zyon checked his phone. The battery was long dead. When he charged his phone, he saw what he dreaded. His mother had left several messages. He let out a sigh, knowing he was in trouble. He might as well hang out for a few more minutes and eat some candy with the others.

Zyon came home to a quiet house. His mom was out working and his dad probably was already asleep. He went straight to bed. As his eyes closed, he smiled knowing it was him who saved Wendy. He thought about it and realized it was time for her to know about his two friends. Deep within his mind, someone spoke to him.

 _"I told you not to tell anyone about the dragons."_

 _"You broke your promise, Kid."_

 _"Now, you're going to have to give me a sacrifice."_


	6. Chapter 6: The Sacrifice

**Hello everyone,**

 **After vacationing in Florida for a few weeks, I'm back home. I'm continuing the story with the next chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 6: The Sacrifice

Zyon woke up to loud, harsh pounding at his door.

"Zyon Uni Anderson, open this door!"

He groaned at the sound of his mother's voice. _Here it comes..._ He thought gloomily to himself. He dragged himself out of bed and slowly to the door. Opening the door a crack, he saw his mom's stern face. Deep lines showed on her face, making her appear older than usual.

"Mom, before you go off on me, let me explain," he began. Impatience was the only thing he saw as the words left his mouth. "Uh—my phone went dead."

"You didn't have your charger with you?"

"Uh—no." he lied.

Mrs. Anderson crossed her arms. "Zyon, I was with the Sheriff and Deputy when the call came in about a wild party getting out of control. It was at the address you gave me, but when we got there, no one was in the house. So where did you go?"

Zyon almost laughed as he thought of the answer. _Sorry Mom, we all got chased by a demon who preys on those who mock a Satanic holiday._

"I was on my way home, but we all stopped at the Shack. Mr. P. had all this candy. I brought some home for everyb—."

"Zyon, you didn't call me! You were at the Shack and you could have used the phone there to call and let me know you were all right, but you didn't!"

Zyon turned away. "I know. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. "You're grounded. You can go to work and come home. That's it."

Zyon sighed and nodded.

"Are you working today?" she asked.

Zyon had to think about it for a moment. Then he remembered that he had the day off. He knew if he told his mom, he wouldn't be able to leave the house. However, if he told her that he was working, he could at least see Wendy.

"I'm working today," he quickly answered.

"Alright. You are to come home right after work, understand?" Zyon nodded, trying not let loose a huge smile.

At the Mystery Shack, Wendy sat bored at the register. The gift shop was completely empty. Stan fumed at the door, waiting for any living soul to wander into his wondrous world of the unknown.

"Stan," Wendy called over. "No one is coming. And you look desperate."

He shot her a glare. "Hey, I pay you to ring up costumers! Not critique my business methods."

"Yeah, except there aren't any costumers," she returned.

Stan grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Soos peeked his head through the door on the opposite side of the shop. "Hey, Mr. Pines, everything is in working order. Can I go on a break?"

"Yeah, me too!" Wendy chimed in.

Stan pointed to Soos, "Yes." Then pointed to Wendy, "No. You've been just sitting there for the passed half hour. If there's no customers, why don't you organize the items on the shelf or something?"

Wendy looked down at her magazine. "Not happening," she responded.

"Where's Zyon?" Soos asked.

"It's his day off," Stan responded. "Wish he was here though. He's great at organizing the shop."

Just as Stan said that, his eyes spotted the kid riding his bike down the road towards the shack.

"Wow! I wish that worked every time I wanted something."

Zyon parked his bike and ran up to the store entrance.

"Hey," he said casually as he walked through the door.

"Hey Z," Wendy greeted.

"Hey kid, I know it's not your day to work, but could you help organize the gift shop?" Stan asked that then waited as his young employee narrowed his eyes in thought.

"So, I'm getting overtime for this?" Zyon asked.

"O-over—t-time?" Stan gasped for air. Soos ran over to his boss

"Dude, Mr. Pines does not do overtime. Breathe," he coaxed the old man.

Stan calmed down, his breathing returned to normal. "Tell ya what, kid," he began. "I'll pay you a flat rate of twenty dollars to just clean up the shop."

"Fifty," Zyon countered.

"Thirty," Stan offered a rebuttal.

"Hundred," Zyon returned.

Stan raised an eyebrow. "You don't know how to haggle do you."

"Two hundred," the teen tossed out.

Stan grabbed his chest and grit his teeth as if expecting to fall dead on the spot.

"One-hundred and fifty," Zyon yelled out.

Stan let out a long sigh. "I'll just give you a hundred."

"Alright, it's a deal." Stan grumbled as he walked away.

"Well, apparently I do know how to haggle. I got twice as much as I originally asked for."

Soos scratched his head. "I guess so, dude."

Zyon walked over to Wendy. She laughed. "What was all that?"

"I saw it on an episode of Ducktective," Zyon responded.

Wendy smirked. "You watch that?"

"Hey, it's got a great mystery element and humor that goes over kids' head."

"Dipper and Mabel watch it too."

The names of the twins peeked Zyon's interest.

"How are they doing after last night?"

Suddenly, the life went out of Wendy. "Still not talking to each other."

"Not talking to each other?"

"Dipper told me that he really wanted to come to the party, but because of that monster he couldn't do it. And Mabel—"

"I remember the conversation. So, they're not talking to each other? Over something dumb like whether or not they should go trick or treating?"

"They've been going since they were little kids. I think Dipper would have gone except he wanted to come to the party."

"What time did trick or treating start?" Zyon asked.

"I don't know. Like around seven."

"If its like how the city where I grew up, there was a curfew at eight-thirty."

"Yeah, it's the same here."

"They could have done both," he responded.

Wendy raised a confused eyebrow. "What?"

"Dipper and Mabel could have gone trick or treating and then gone to the party."

"I don't think it was like that. Dipper just thought he was getting too old. He's kind of mature for his age."

Her last statement rang in his ears. "You think he's mature?"

Wendy shrugged. "Sort of. I mean he's not as mature as us."

"Right," Zyon agreed. "So, did you ever see Robbie again after last night?"

Wendy groaned. "I'm done with him! After he abandoned us last night like that! He didn't even text me today to see if I was alright." Wendy's head fell, her eyes stared at the ground.

"Hey, that's why I came here today on my day off. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Didn't think Stan was going to have me work today, though."

Wendy looked over at Zyon and smiled. "Thanks, Z." Then she leaned close and whispered, "Good thing he wasn't with us. If he saw what happened he would have told everyone."

"Yeah, so, uh, you know to keep it a secret, right?"

"Of course. I'm sure Dipper and Mabel will too."

"So, you wouldn't care if something happened to Robbie?" Zyon asked.

"He has it coming," Wendy answered. "He could turn up dead in a ditch for all I care!"

Her last statement was pretty harsh, but it was all Zyon needed to hear.

An hour later, Zyon was still busy tidying up the shack. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dipper walk into the shop. He strolled over to Wendy with that stupid, goofy grin of his.

"Hey Wendy, what's going on? Fun party last night."

He made it sound like it was a typical bash in the neighborhood. They were almost killed last night!

"Hey Dipper, come here," Zyon called.

Dipper turned, bewildered by the person who just called him.

"Just a sec," he told Wendy coolly. He joined Zyon on the other side of the room.

"What's up?"

"Hey, uh, I wanted to make sure you aren't going to say anything about what happened last night." Dipper stared blankly at him. "You know, the dragons?"

"Oh!" Dipper said a bit too loudly. "No, of course not. And in return, I hope you won't tell anyone about the journal."

Zyon could care less about the stupid book. "Yeah man, no problem."

"Okay."

Dipper turned around when Zyon stopped him again.

"Hey, uh, so you're not talking to your sister?" Zyon bit his lip. Being an only child, he may not be the one to talk to someone about sibling bickering.

"Mabel is the one who's making a big deal. When that monster was chasing us, she said we need help, so I thought we should go to find help—at Tambry's party."

"And that upset her?" Zyon questioned.

"Yeah. She said, 'oh, so you just want to go to the party to see your girlfriend?"

Zyon narrowed his eyes. "Girlfriend?"

Dipper let out a nervous chuckle. "That's just Mabel being a nuisance. Of course Wendy and I are just—friends." He ended with a wide smile.

"Hey look man, you realize you could have done both, right?"

"Yeah, but I—I don't know. I thought we were getting too old for trick or treating. I mean, you understand, right?"

Zyon let out a sigh. "I haven't trick or treated since I was twelve. I actually miss it. I mean you're lucky. You can still get away with it, ya know? Just wait until next year, when you're officially a teenager. You even suggest going out and all your friends look at you like a reject." Zyon hung his head.

"I don't know. I guess we could have done both, but Mabel didn't want to go to the party anyway."

"Hey, it was kind of lame—that is until you and your sister showed up."

Dipper smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, that's the first Halloween party I've been to where some weird monster showed up."

"Summerween," Dipper corrected.

"Yeah, my first Summerween everything," he agreed.

Dipper looked back towards the door leading into the house. "I guess I can at least see if Mabel wants to trade any more candy." He ran to the door and vanished. Zyon returned to his work.

Robbie did his usual cool wave to Lee and Nate as he walked away from the mall parking lot. Checking his phone, he saw the time was way after midnight. Dark clouds loomed across the night sky. The teen kept an even pace towards his van parked in the shadows of the trees. He thought it was a good place to hide the vehicle in the back of the parking lot where it wouldn't be spotted by a cop car. That was the one thing that he hated about the town, the curfew for any minors to be off the streets after ten. No one he knew ever followed that rule.

As Robbie walked alone towards his destination, he suddenly felt a presence close to him. He stopped and viewed the area around him. He took his knife out of his pocket. He was ready for anyone who would jump him. Moving a little quicker now, he continually scanned the area. He reached his van and unlocked the door. Switching on the interior lights, he checked the entire van for any psycho that may be waiting for him. When he didn't find anyone, he got in, locked the doors and started the van.

Robbie turned onto his street. He was almost home. He kind of laughed at himself for having any worry about someone being after him. Who would try to jump him anyway? No one! No one in this town was dumb enough to try to mess with him. He made sure of that! Everyone in that town was afraid of him! Even his own parents never challenged him. He smiled.

His eyes caught something in his rearview mirror. A strange golden glow. Someone's car lights? He turned to look behind him, but saw nothing. His house came into view. Almost there. How stupid was it that he had a sudden case of paranoia? He let out a small laugh.

The van was really moving smoothly. Usually he felt every bump on the road. Suddenly, his van came to a halt. Not by his choice, however. His eyes stared out the front windshield. He wasn't on the road anymore. His van floated in the air! In the next moment, the van was hurled through the sky and crashed into a nearby tree. It fell, landing on the ground, parts of the vehicle flung every way. Robbie felt his body smack against the steering wheel. Once he got his barring, he crawled out a small space to get out of the crushed vehicle. He crawled inch by inch, not sure what just happened. Someone's boot stepped in his path. Robbie's gaze went from the black boot up a black trench coat to a hood with a pair of yellow glowing eyes. He didn't have time to even scream before a searing blast incinerated him.


	7. Chapter 7: Feelings of Vengeance

Chapter 7: Feelings of Vengeance

Today, the shack was full of men women and children of all ages. Zyon actually was on the schedule to work. However, Wendy was not at the register, Stan was. Zyon walked over harboring some curiosity.

"Mr. P?" he asked.

"Hey kid. I need everything in these boxes sorted out." He gestured to a bunch of boxes piled behind the register.

"Uh, sure. But where's Wendy?"

"I dunno. She hasn't showed up yet." Zyon returned a look of concern. "Don't worry about it. She does this from time to time. When she gets here, she's getting an earful from me."

Suddenly, Zyon's phone buzzed in his pocket. Looking at it, he saw a text from Wendy. _Meet me on the roof of the shack._ The roof? His eyes turned upwards, then back to his phone. Moving his thumbs on the keys, he messaged her back.

 _Gotta put away some stock first._

 _That will take forever! Just come up the ladder._

 _I can't! Mr. P is at the register._

A few moments.

 _Hold on. I'll take care of it._

Soos was cleaning the bathroom when his phone buzzed. He checked his phone to see Wendy's message.

 _"Distract Stan?"_ he read the text.

Next text: _I'll explain later._

Soos ran into the gift shop where he saw his boss ring up costumers with a grimace on his face. There was only one way to get the old man away from the register. Soos rushed over with wide eyes and a frown.

"Mr Pines! Some hippies found your coin collection. They said they're gonna give it to charity and even out the economy!

"Oh no they don't! After all the trouble I went through to steal it! Where are they?" Soos pointed at the exit door. "That way!"

Stan pushed his costumers out of the way. "Get back here you deadbeat hippies!"

Soos quickly sent his text _Okay, Stan is out of the shop._

 _"Okay Great!"_

Zyon's phone buzzed. The message on his screen read, _"Now's your chance."_ Zyon's eyes went to Soos. "Uh—"

"I got this," he said as he started ringing up costumers.

Everyone was preoccupied with various knickknacks and fake attractions. No one noticed or cared that Zyon disappeared up the ladder.

Wendy sat on the roof with her head on her knees. She slowly lifted her head as Zyon walked towards her.

"Wendy?" he asked. "What's going on?"

She took a deep, shaky breath. "Robbie," she said solemnly.

"What did he do this time?" Zyon asked hotly.

Wendy shook her head. "Someone did something to him," she replied. She gasped for air. "H-he's dead, Z!" she sobbed. "Someone killed him!"

Zyon didn't speak. He sat down next to the girl he felt like he finally had a chance with.

"I'm sorry, Wendy," he tried his best to sound sympathetic.

"It's all my fault!" she wailed. "I should have went over to his house to talk to him, but I was still mad at him!"

"Yeah, well, he acted like a jerk. You said it yourself. You didn't care if he died somewhere."

Wendy's eyes widened in shock, then they narrowed into almost slits.

"I was just angry," she shot back. "Yeah, I said that, but I—" Her eyes closed and tears ran down her checks. Zyon instantly felt bad and was about to apologize when she exploded.

"I would never wish for someone to die! Not even a self-centered jerk like Robbie! Come on! Who would be so low that they would actually carry out murder?"

Zyon quickly turned away from her searing glare. "Not me," he said. Wendy stood.

"When I find out who did kill Robbie, I'm gonna make them pay!" She finished her vengeful statement by punching the palm of her hand.

"Yeah, uh, I don't blame you," Zyon said as he backpedaled towards the ladder back down into the shack.

"Z? Tell Stan I'm not coming in today. I just can't deal with it right now." She thought for a moment. "Actually, tell Soos and have him tell Stan."

Zyon nodded. He watched as Wendy jumped off the roof, landing on a nearby branch of a pine tree. The branch bent downward from her weight. As it reached just a few inches off the ground, she left off and ran to her bike, parked just inside the forest entrance.

When Zyon returned to the shop, Stan was back and talking to Soos by the register. All of the costumers left. Stan turned just as Zyon moved away from the ladder.

"Where were you?" his gruff voice came out hastily. Zyon thought about what Wendy said.

He opened his mouth and a small whisper came out.

"Uh—Wendy isn't coming in,"

Stan raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"S-she's uh—sick," he tried to cover.

Stan narrowed his eyes as his mouth turned down.

"Then you're gonna cover her shift on the register." He turned to Soos now.

"And I never want to see you on register again, got it?"

"I know, mister pines. You need me to fix stuff, right?"

"Well that, and you have no idea how to count change."

"Hey, neither does Wendy," he countered.

"Out!" Stan yelled, pointing Soos back towards the house. "There's a bottle of glue and a bunch of taxidermy parts with your name on it!"

Soos scurried away as Zyon walked over to the cash register.

Zyon left the shack a little after six. By his mom's rules, he had to go straight home. He was a block away from his house when someone called to him. The teenage boy turned to see a van pull up to the curb. Thompson was driving with Nate riding shotgun.

"Hey man," Nate said. "Uh, I don't know if you heard what happened to Robbie—"

Zyon nodded, trying to hold a forlorn stare. "Yeah, I did. Wendy told me."

"Wendy, huh? I texted her about it this morning."

"How did you find out?" Zyon wondered.

Nate turned to Thompson and into the backseat where Lee sat. His eyes met with Zyon

"We found his body or rather—what was left of his body."

Zyon felt a chill rush through him. "What do you mean?"

Nate took a deep breath. "His face was gone. It was just a mess that was left."

Robbie, who always seemed enthralled with dead bodies and even touched one once just to show himself as a badass, now was a corpse himself.

"I need to get home, man," Zyon said. "I'm gr—" He stopped himself from finishing. He was being punished because he didn't call home. That was too lame to tell anyone. "My mom needs me to uh—help her with the case. I mean, my buddy got murdered so I'm gonna find out who did it."

All six eyes widened.

"Really? I'm sure Wendy would love to know," Lee said.

"Yeah, so I'll see ya later." Zyon rode his bike down the street. He stopped in front of his house and twisted around to see the van drive away. Quickly, he put his bike beside the house and ran inside.

For the rest of the evening, Zyon stayed in his room, playing computer games. It was all he could do to keep his mind from the event that took place the previous night. Wendy's face popped into his head. Her searing glare edged its way into his mind over and over again. She said she'd find who killed Robbie...

His phone buzzed. Picking up his phone, he scanned the message on the screen.

 _Please meet me at the Shack._

It was Wendy. What was with this girl and always wanting to meet at the place where they worked? Then it dawned on him. She was with Dipper and Mabel. His parents weren't home. Should he risk going out? The phone buzzed again.

 _I really need to talk to you Z._

Zyon put away his phone. He had to find a way to get to the shack and back home quickly.

 _"Crimson. Oceana."_ He called inside his mind.

The two orbs appeared in front of him.

"I need to get to the Mystery Shack," he said. Zyon walked over to the window and climbed up to the roof. Once there, the orbs turned into the two magnificent scaly beasts. He mounted Crimson.

"I'll ride you there. And Oceana, I'll ride on you on the way back, deal?"

The two dragons nodded. They took off into the night sky.

Zyon saw the trio down below just outside the entrance into the woods. The two dragons merged into the violet colored orb and lowered him to the ground. The other three turned with wide eyes and mouth agape.

"Whoa! That's quite an entrance," Mabel said.

"Uh, yeah. So, you called, Wendy?"

"I came up with a plan to find Robbie's killer. However, we're gonna need your dragons."

"For what, exactly?" Zyon answered a bit cruder than he meant to.

"We're gonna scare that coward out," she replied.

Dipper opened his weird journal book. "It says here that dragons are able to look inside a person's heart and tell if they are a honest or a liar. We just need to question some people."

"Wait! I can't just show everyone my dragons," Zyon protested.

"We have a way to do it without anyone knowing they belong to you," Dipper assured him.

"Yeah, and everyone saw them at the fair. Only us three know they belong to you," Wendy said.

"Uh, you forgot about Soos," Mabel added.

"Oh, Soos won't say anything." Wendy replied. Her green eyes turned back to Zyon. "Will you do it, Z?" Her eyes pleaded with him.

"Maybe. I need to hear this plan of your first."

"Let's go into the woods," Dipper said as he walked in between the trees. They walked for what seemed forever to Zyon. Finally, they stopped in the clearing. "We're gonna bring each suspect here and question them. The dragons will be able to tell if they're lying."

"Okay," Zyon returned slowly. "How are you gonna get them here."

A mischievous grin crossed Wendy's lips. "Don't worry about that part."

Zyon was at a loss for words. "Hey, can your dragons come down here?" Mabel asked.

"Uh, I guess so."

Zyon called to them. _"Hey, can you two come down here?" Massive wings flew from above. Then, two orbs floated down and turned into two smaller versions of themselves._

"Hey, how did they get so small? They were really big when you flew here on them. In fact, I think they got bigger since Summerween," Mabel noted.

"They can change their size. Dragons can grow to be really big. These two are actually still growing."

"Wow! Where do you keep them?" Mabel asked, truly enchanted by the two creatures.

"They shrink and sleep on my bed," Zyon answered. Actually, they had only done that a few times since Zyon got them. Most of the time, they hung out inside his mindscape. However, he wasn't going to explain all that, plus he didn't really know the mechanics of it all; just that it happened.

"That's so cute," she replied.

Zyon's mouth turned up into a big grin. He couldn't believe it was in his thoughts, but he started to like being around the twins, especially Mabel. And for the next hour, the four of them played with the dragons. And for a little while, they forgot about the traumatic event that took the life of a friend.


	8. Chapter 8: Under New Management

**Hey Readers, I needed to do some editing for this chapter. So, here is the rewrite of chapter 8.**

 **This chapter follows what happened in season 1 episode 13: Boss Mabel. I changed some things of course, but you'll probably notice there's some stuff that stayed the same.**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Under New Management

Bright sunlight poured into Zyon's bedroom window. He opened his eyes a sliver and rolled over. Getting out of bed, he walked across his room. As his feet dragged along the carpet, it collided with an object the size of a beach ball. He cried out as he fell over it onto his stomach. His eyes looked behind him to see a lilac colored egg. How did he miss it? Because he just woke up, he answered himself. Moving over to the object, he picked it up to inspect it.

"What it this? An egg? Does this belong to—?" He placed it on his desk. However, it started to roll down the slanted wooden surface. He quickly caught it. "No, I need a better place." He grabbed the blanket off his bed and bunched it up in a heap. Then he placed the egg in the center. "There we go. Now I gotta go to work." He stared down at the egg for a moment.

 _"Hey, Crimson and Oceana, I put your egg in a safe place at the foot of my bed. I'll be back later."_ He heard a collective sigh from the two dragons.

Later at work, Zyon walked with Wendy and Soos towards Stan's office. There was a meeting called by the 'boss.' As they traveled into the house, various thoughts came to Zyon of why Stan called this meeting. It may be about what happened yesterday with him leaving his post and going to talk to Wendy. Wendy didn't come into work at all. And Soos got in trouble for covering the two of them.

Dipper stood by the office desk as the others walked inside. The chair was turned in the opposite direction so no one could see who sat there.

"You wanted to see us, Mr. Pines?" Soos asked.

The chair turned around. All eyes stared down at Mabel wearing a business suit and glasses.

"Stan's no longer with us," she replied.

"He's dead?!" Soos cried out, falling to his knees. "No! It should have been me!"

"No. He's just went on a business trip," she clarified.

"Oh," Soos said as he stood up, composing himself.

"And while he's gone, I'm gonna be in charge!"

So many questions ran through Zyon's head.

"Are those shoulder pads?" Dipper asked.

"Huh-huh!" she exclaimed shifting each shoulder up and down.

"So, while I'm in charge, you let me know what I can do to help make your working experience more enjoyable!"

Zyon's eyes jumped to Wendy who looked like she was formulating how she could use this to her advantage. Zyon raised his hand.

"Uh, question, when you say making our working experience more enjoyable, are you asking us how we want things to be at work? Because I have a whole bunch of ideas!"

"Okay! Great!" Mabel returned with spirit. "I'll have a wrap season with each of you individually. So, with that being said, Soos, you're first. Wendy and Z, you guys can go ahead and open the shop."

Wendy started laughing as they walked towards the shop.

"Wow! I did not expect that!" She stopped at the door and turned to Zyon. "Dude, you realize this means we'll be able to do whatever we want, right? I mean, Mabel will be the coolest boss ever!"

"Does she know what she's doing?" Zyon asked.

Wendy shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno." She opened the door and the two walked into the shop. Zyon noted how nice and peaceful the place was without costumers.

"Hey Wendy, what if we never turn the open sign around? Like, people will think we're closed all day." He laughed; Wendy joined him.

"Oh man, that would be so funny!"

Soos walked into the room, "It's your turn Wendy." The teenage girl ran with glee as her mind formulated everything she would ask for. Zyon looked up at Soos, suddenly at a loss for words.

"Uh, so, what did she talk to you about?"

"Mabel? Don't worry, it's cool dude. Things are going to be a lot easier around her while she's in charge." Soos walked over to the door and turned the sign around.

"Can't have costumers if we're closed, right, dude?" Zyon returned a forced smile. There went his idea. Soos moved over to counter and opened the register.

"Hey, I thought you weren't supposed to be at the register," Zyon reminded him.

"I know. I just like hearing the dinging noise when the drawer opens. He turned the key to make the drawer pop out and 'ding' a few more times. "I guess you can unpack more boxes," Soos said pointing his thumb at the stack of boxes Zyon worked on the previous day.

"Right," Zyon said rolling his eyes.

Ten minutes later, Wendy walked into the shop. "You're turn, Z." She took her spot at the register. Zyon walked into the office where Mabel sat on the desk with a wide smile plastered on her face. She picked up a large jar with a line near the top marked in red.

"Zyon or Z, you want to be called Z, right?" Mabel asked.

Zyon nodded. "Yeah, that's cool."

"Cool, right. You're a cool dude—with dragons!" Zyon winced.

"Uh, Mabel, we need to keep that on the down low."

"Well, we'll keep it on the down low that they belong to you, but—" she turned her head to the door as Dipper walked in.

"Uh, Zyon," his voice shook a tiny bit. "I uh," He took a deep breath. "I have a business proposition for you. We use your dragons for an attraction to get customers."

Zyon narrowed his eyes. "No. No way!"

"Zyon," Mabel turned the boy around to face her. "See this jar. We need to fill it to this line," she pointed with her pen, "with money! We need to do it in three days so when Stan comes back, he'll see that I was right! I know he would make more money if he treated his costumers and employees better." Zyon couldn't argue that. Stan was horrible with the way he treated people in general.

"What do you want to do with the dragons?"

Dipper spoke up, "Okay, so I had this idea that your dragons can fly above the shack and breathe out fire. The people will love it!"

"And then they can just disappear and no one has to know they belong to you," Mabel added.

"I'll have to think about it," Zyon replied. He turned towards the door; Mabel grabbed his arm.

"We need to know now! We only have a few days!" she cried.

Zyon narrowed his eyes. "You know, this is not my problem. You're not even my boss!"

"Fine! I'll split the profit with you!"

"Mabel!" Dipper yelled. He knew the deal. She had to make more money than Stan did in the next three days. She couldn't afford to give any away.

"Really?" Zyon asked. "So, you just want them to fly around in the sky."

Mabel nodded.

"Okay," he agreed.

For the rest of the day, Zyon did his usual job of unloading boxes while Wendy rang up costumers. The two talked and joked when there wasn't a long line. However, Mabel seemed very anxious when that happened.

"Dipper!" she held up a white poster board and red marker. "We need a sign with a catchy slogan! I know, 'Come to the Shack for all your knickknacks!' Go! Make a sign!" She clapped her hands. "Chop! Chop!" Her brother rolled his eyes and took the poster board and marker.

"Geez, Mabel needs a chill pill," Zyon whispered to Wendy.

"Don't worry, our friends will be here any moment," she returned.

"But we aren't allowed to talk to our friends at work," Zyon reminded her.

"Yeah, that was before Mabel was put in charge."

About twenty minutes later, the door to the shop opened and the whole gang walked in; Tambry, Thompson, Nate, Lee... No Robbie. Zyon felt like should have felt good about Robbie being gone, but seeing the others made the empty space more noticable.

"Wendy!" Lee shouted. He stood right in front of the register just as a middle-aged woman was about to put her items on the counter.

"Excuse me, young man, there is a line," she said. Lee turned around to see the heavyset woman and cried out as he fell backwards onto the floor.

"Don't eat me!" he screamed as he crossed his arms in front of his face. Wendy laughed.

"Well, I can see this place is just another tourist trap for gullible travelers," the woman said as she turned away leaving her items.

"Wait!" Mabel cried out. She raced in front of the woman. "I'll throw in a snow glob and a key chain at no charge. She went to the register to ring the woman up. "Z, can you get me one snow glob and one keychain."

"But Stan never gives away free stuff," Zyon said.

"That's the Mabel difference," she said proudly as she flashed the woman a wide, business friendly smile.

The woman left. Wendy, Zyon and the others in the gang burst out laughing.

"Oh man, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen happen here," Wendy commented. "You guys need to come hang out here more."

"You said your boss wouldn't let us come here," Nate said.

"Well, Mabel's in charge and everything will be different."

Dipper tapped Zyon on the shoulder. "Hey, we need to talk about the uh—attraction. Let's go up to the roof."

Zyon followed Dipper up the ladder. "You can have them fly off of here and people can watch from below. I also thought you could wear that costume you did for Summerween. It would be cool."

Zyon contemplated the idea. "Okay. Sure."

When Dipper and Zyon returned to the shop, they reported right to Mabel.

"We're all set," Dipper told his twin. "Z here is gonna do his act on the roof."

"Yeah, I just need to go home to get my costume," he said.

"Costume?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah, remember my Summerween costume. I'm gonna wear it. "

Mabel's eyes widened. "That is such a great idea, Z!"

"Actually it was my-" Mabel cut her brother off as she slapped a colorful sticker on Zyon's shirt.

"You get a 'Job well done' sticker." She continued to slap a sticker on Dipper's shirt. He looked down at it.

"You're the grapest?" he looked at the smiling grapes.

"Stickers for everyone!" She put one on Soos that read, ''This guys has a lot of great ideas!

"Hey I do!" Soos said cheerfully.

Wendy got one that said, 'keep tugging those logs.' She looked down at a face with squint eyes and grinding teeth trying to pull a bunch of logs. "Wow, that's eeire," she said knowing her job at the Mystery Shack saved her from going to work at a lumber mill.

"Keep up the great work, everyone! I'm gonna do boss type paper work!" Mabel said as she walked into the house.

Later that day, Zyon stood on the roof of the shack as his captive audience waited down below. Putting his hands to his head, Zyon called to his friends.

 _"Okay guys, ready?"_

The red and blue lights flowed from his head up into the sky where Crimson and Oceana took their true form. They flew together, making a violet ray. They twirled about and made patterns in the sky. The people stared in awe until the dragons flew back into Zyon's mind. The audience clapped and cheered as Zyon bowed then retreated to the ladder back into the shack.

After hours, Mabel called another meeting. Zyon joined Wendy and Soos into the office.

The dragon act brought in the most money. Mabel was so pleased as she looked at the money in the jar had gone passed the red line.

"We did it!" Mabel exclaimed as she showed everyone the jar.

"Stan is going to flip when he sees this money," Dipper added.

Mabel placed the jar on the office desk.

"Glad it worked. So, what about my cut?" Zyon asked.

Mabel's mouth curved down. She forgot what she promised.

"Uh, Z, I can give you some of the money, but I need to keep the majority of it so I can win the bet with Stan."

"Hey, hold on! You wouldn't have gotten that money without me."

"Well, actually, we never made an official amount," Dipper said.

"Well, we still have two days left. Maybe your dragons can do one more show?"

Zyon had fun the last time. He nodded. "Okay." He agreed.

Back at the shop, Zyon walked in with Mabel and Dipper. Their eyes widened as the number of customers had more than doubled.

"Wow! This is great!" Mabel exclaimed.

"Wish I could share your enthusiasm, Hambone," Soos shouted from the register. "I uh, could use some help." Mabel rushed over.

"Where's Wendy?"

"She, uh stepped out for a moment."

"Okay. I'll take over. You need to go do your job."

"Hey, you know how I mentioned that whole question mark getup? Can I do that now?"

"Soos, you may go do as your heart desires," Mabel answered. Soos' smile grew as he ran to the door.

"Where ya going?" Zyon asked.

"I'm going home real quick. I got something that will blow your mind, Dude. Be right back."

"Zyon! Can you uh, I don't know—" Mabel was at a loss for words as she hurried to ring up items. Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Hey Mabel, can I go home?"

Her eyes became stricken in panic. "I'll be right back. I got something that will add to the dragon act."

"Oh, okay."

Zyon didn't get too far down the road when he saw Wendy with the rest of their gang. He pulled over.

"Hey Z, you asked Mabel for the day off?"

"No, I uh, need to go home and get something."

"Dude, just come hang out with us. Mabel's cool she won't mind," Nate said.

"Well, she was kind of panicking," Zyon began. Everyone stared at him with clueless eyes. He sighed.

"Just give me a minute. I'll be right back."

Once home, Zyon ran to his room. He went straight to the blanket where he left the egg.

"Maybe I could show this at the shack. It's technically not a dragon yet, so I'm not breaking any rules." He grabbed it and put it in a backpack and left.

Zyon arrived at the shack with the egg. The shop was packed with customers. The teenage boy did his best to slip passed people while holding the giant egg. Of course, it didn't go unnoticed. Many eyes moved to the boy as he made his way to the register. Mabel's eyes showed thankfulness as she saw Zyon approach.

"Z! Oh thank goodness! Her eyes focused on the lilac colored egg. "What's that?"

"It's a dragon egg," he replied. Mabel's eyes lit up.

"Wow! Put it on the counter." Zyon did so and Mabel hopped up next to it.

"Step right up folks and see the amazing Dragon Egg!" A flock of people gathered around. "So, you can show off the egg and I'll ring up the customers!" Zyon looked around at all the people gazing at his new possession.

"Can I see that?" A man asked.

"Hey! I was here first!" A lady yelled.

"Mommy! I want a dragon egg!" A kid yelled. Suddenly, the kid's hand went to touch the egg. Zyon quickly slapped his hand out of the way.

"Hey! No touching the egg!" he yelled as the young boy.

"Mommy!" he cried.

"What's the matter with you!" his mother yelled at Zyon. "We're paying customers! We should be able to touch whatever we want!"

"You aint touchin' my egg!" Zyon raged. He grabbed the egg and ran into the museum. His eyes landed on Dipper in a suit with his hair slicked back.

"$100 to get your picture taken with Questiony the Question Mark!" Soos stood in a pen wearing a very revealing question mark costume.

"I don't even want to know!" Zyon replied.

"Hey! What's that?" Someone asked. Zyon turned to a man pointing at the egg.

"Uh, nothing." He tried to turn, but someone grabbed him. "Hey!" Suddenly, the egg fell from his hands and landed on the floor. A loud crack was heard throughout the room. Zyon cried out as he fell to his knees. He stared forlorn at the large crack in the egg. Before anyone could say anything, two orbs came out of Zyon and engulfed the egg in light. The eggshell melted away and left was a baby dragon with a lilac tint to its skin. Everyone stared in wonder. Cameras were out and taking photos. Dipper jumped in front of them.

"Get your picture taken with the baby dragon for $200 bucks!"

As people began to crowd the creature, it shrank back, trying to hide in the corner. That's when it bolted, knocking over various displays and running into the shop. The little dragon suddenly took off, flying around the room. Everyone watched the display and took photos. Then, the terrified creature jumped onto the heads of the people standing in the room. Everyone left, panic stricken. The entire room was empty in seconds.

"Zyon! Get control of the dragon!" Mabel yelled.

He raced after the creature, but it clawed his arm, leaving a deep scratch. Zyon yelled as the dragon flew back into the museum. Soos yelled as he ran into the shop still in the question mark costume. "Dude, that baby dinosaur just tried to roast me alive!

"It's breathing fire now?" Zyon asked. Then he narrowed his eyes at Soos. "And he's a dragon."

"What are we going to do?" Mabel exclaimed.

Dipper pulled out his journal. "Um, hold on." He frantically flipped through the pages. "Yeah, there's nothing in here about baby dragons. But, dragons are seen as majestic creatures. We need to be gentle with it.

Zyon watched the baby dragon moving around in circles as if guarding something.

"Oh it says here, 'going up to it and displaying dominance by making yourself appear bigger is something you should do," Dipper read. Zyon grabbed a chair and placed it a few feet from the dragon, then got on top of it.

"Hey! I am your master."

Suddenly, the dragon jumped at Zyon knocking him to the floor. Dipper looked down at the book and realized the sentence went on. "—If you want the dragon to attack you? Who writes sentences like that?!"

"Get off me!" Zyon yelled. As he struggled to get the baby dragon off of him, the two orbs of his dragons came out. The two older dragons showed themselves to their baby. The younger dragon looked up at them as its parents nuzzled him. All three dragons transformed into orbs and faded back into Zyon's mind.

Everyone walked back into the shop to see the damage.

"No," Mabel said helplessly. "How am I going to explain this to Grunkle Stan?"

"We'll have to use some of the money to repair everything," Dipper said.

Mabel grabbed the jar protectively. "No! If we do that, we won't have enough to beat him!"

"We don't have a choice Mabel," he countered.

Suddenly, Wendy walked through the door. It fell over as she tried to open it. Her eyes gazed around the mess.

"Whoa! You guys had a wild party and you didn't invite me?" Mabel turned to Wendy with a searing glare.

"Where have you been?" she yelled. "You abandoned you post and you've been gone all day!"

Wendy's eyes popped wide open. "M-Mabel?" she questioned. "What's gotten into you?"

"Oh, I don't know! I'm just trying to run a business here! And my cashier decided she was taking the day off!"

Wendy narrowed her eyes. "Hey, you said I could take off a day if I needed it."

"Yeah well—you took the day off so now you need to help us clean this up!"

"Hey, manual labor is not part of my job description," she argued.

"I don't care! How about you shut yur yap and actually work for a change! And if you leave before the job's done, your not getting any pay!"

"Uh, Mabel, I uh—" She looked at Soos for support only for him to shake his head at her. She looked back at Mabel who still had a searing look in her eye, much like Stan had at times when he had it with her goofing off. Wendy let out a long sigh. "Yes ma'am."

"That's yes, boss!" she screamed as she slammed her fist down on the counter. Wendy, Soos and Zyon began cleaning up the mess.

"Dipper, I wasn't too hard on anyone, was I?" Mabel asked with concern.

"No Mabel, you became what you had to," her brother said supportively.

A few days later, Zyon stood outside his house. He looked down the street as he heard someone peddling their bike toward him. Wendy came into view, she waved as she stopped.

"Hey Z! So, you're not grounded anymore?"

"Nope. So, where we're going?"

"It's a surprise," she responded.

"Come on, really?" he asked raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea," she said.

Zyon followed Wendy into the woods, all the way to a familiar spot where the trees thinned. Someone was tied to one of the trees. Before Zyon could ask, Dipper and Mabel walked out from behind that tree.

"So, I bet you're wondering who this is and why he's here," Dipper began. Zyon looked down at the boy who had to be around ten. Either that or it was a midget with white poofy hair. His blue business suit suggested he was an adult, but he wasn't sure.

"Who's this?" Zyon asked.

"This boy's name is Gideon," Dipper explained. "Remember, I told you about him?

Zyon vaguely remembered. "Uh, maybe? What's he doing here tied to a tree?"

"Well, Wendy helped us out with that, but, this kid has been harassing our family and he's trying to get control of the shack. We don't know if he had anything to do with Robbie's death, but I wondered if we could use your dragons to get some information from him. Zyon looked down at the boy with a gag in his mouth. He continued to struggle against the thick rope and mumble inaudible curses.

"Can you help us, Z?" Mabel asked. Zyon's eyes went back and forth between the boy and his friends. He stayed silent. He didn't expect this.


	9. Chapter 9: Making A Big Splash

_**A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! It's been a while, but here is chapter 9. Chapter 10 will be coming shortly. I have a lot of projects I'm working on so I will write this story when I have time. This chapter is a little more silly, but has its serious moment too. Enjoy!**_

Chapter 9: Making a Big Splash

Zyon stared at Gideon. He slowly removed the gag. The pale skinned boy breathed heavily for a moment.

"How dare you!" he screamed. "Do you know who I am!"

"Actually, this is my first time meeting you," Zyon said.

"Gideon, you're no one special," Dipper said. "You just used an amulet that made you look like you had psychic powers and you stole a magic flashlight, which I made."

"You be quiet! You—you—inferior life form!"

"So, are we gonna do this?" Wendy asked.

Zyon returned a smile. Then he put a hand over his chest and telepathically spoke.

 _Okay guys, I need you tell me if this kid is telling the truth._

Two orbs came out and floated towards Gideon.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked nervously.

"Me? I'm not doing anything," Zyon answered.

The orbs floated in circles around his head.

"Wait! Stop!"

"It's cool man, we just wanna ask you some questions."

"First, what are your plans with the Mystery Shack?" Dipper asked.

"Hold on!" Wendy said. "Let's ask him about Robbie first."

Dipper nodded. However, now he wasn't sure if he'd get his questions answered because if Gideon did kill Robbie, Wendy was going to kill him.

"Who's Robbie?" Gideon asked.

"He's the kid always wearing a hoodie. Got a messed up face, like someone repeatedly beat him upside the head with his own guitar." After Zyon's description, Wendy gave him a stern glare.

"Robbie was killed a few nights ago," Dipper explained.

"Did you kill him?" Wendy tossed the question harshly.

"No! I don't have time to waste on an invalid like him!" Gideon shouted back. After he responded, Zyon received the message from Crimson and Oceana.

" _He speaks the truth. He did not kill Robbie._

" _Thanks, guys,"_ he replied. "He's clean. He didn't do it."

Everyone let out a sigh.

"Great, now can I ask him some questions?" Dipper asked.

"Sure, man," Zyon answered.

Dipper moved over to Gideon and stared into his eyes.

"What are your plans for the Mystery Shack?"

"Well, that's no secret, Dippy. I'm making it part of my attraction."

"You know my uncle won't let that happen, right?"

Gideon let out a boisterous laugh. "He's not gonna stop me. I got something planned."

"What exactly?" Dipper pressed.

He turned to Zyon. "Can you find out what his plan is?"

 _Can you two tell me his plan?_

 _We cannot invade his mind. He needs to speak it first, then we can determine if it's true._

"Uh, they won't tell us what Gideon knows. They can only tell us if he's lying or not."

Dipper scrunched his face and turned away.

"Well, we can turn him in," Mabel said.

"Right," Dipper agreed. "I still have the sheriff's number."

"Here, use my phone," Wendy said handing the electronic device to him.

Ten minutes later, the sheriff and deputy arrived. They looked at the four kids, then at Gideon tied to a tree. Both officers gasped at the sight.

"Lil' Gideon!" Sheriff Blubbs spoke with shock as he rushed over. He untied the boy.

"What are ya doin' to our beloved citizen?" Durland chastised.

Zyon raised an eyebrow. "Beloved citizen?" he questioned.

Dipper groaned. "Oh come on! You two still haven't caught on? Gideon is a fake!"

"As far as we're concerned, he is a talented performer and the four of you are being taken in for kidnapping," His eyes fell on zyon. "And our mom told us you were just grounded too. Don't know what she'll do when she finds out your involved in criminal activity?" Zyon grit his teeth.

Before the Sheriff could make the arrest, two orbs came out of Zyon

"What's that?" the deputy asked.

A blinding light flashed and the two officers covered their eyes as they cried out.

"Come on!" Wendy shouted leading the others through the trees. Zyon ran with everyone. He looked back once to see the blinding light surrounding the trees. He heard the shouts from the Sheriff and Deputy. Then he wondered how long he had before his mom grounded him for the rest of the summer.

Zyon didn't plan to return home any time soon. He spent the next hour talking to Wendy on the roof of the shack.

"I'm getting a second job," she told him. "I don't make enough here at the shack."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Zyon agreed. "We hardly get paid anything. Where ya getting a job?"

"At the pool. They're looking for lifeguards."

"Oh, really? Do you need to know like, CPR? Cause I'm actually certified."

"I have no idea. But, I'm going down there tomorrow. You should come too."

Zyon felt his heart beat faster. "Man, it would be more exciting working at the pool than here," he agreed. "However, after what just happened—" The Sheriff said he was going to tell Zyon's mom what happened with Gideon.

"Hey, if your mom grounds you again, just tell her you're going to get a second job.

"I guess so. But I'm tired of getting grounded."

Wendy laughed. "Sorry, Dude."

"For what?"

"Well, it's partly my fault for asking you to help us today."

Zyon shrugged. "It's no problem. Plus I got to meet Gideon." He let out a chuckle. "I can't believe that's his real hair."

Wendy joined him.

"So, you'll come with me tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure."

Zyon climbed to his feet and headed towards the ladder back into the shack. He stopped a few feet from his destination and turned his head around. Wendy stared out into the distance. Turning back, Zyon headed down the ladder.

Luckily Zyon came home to a quiet home. He wondered how long he had until his mother burst in yelling that he was grounded for the rest of the summer. That sheriff would definitely tell her about him being involved with Gideon's kidnapping. She might put him in jail. He had to get his mind off of the whole ordeal. Retreating to his room, the teenager went to his computer. He booted up his fantasy game that took him away to another world and away from his problems.

The next day was reported as the hottest day of the year. Zyon walked into the public pool. Hopefully, he could get a job as a lifeguard so he and Wendy could hang out. Not that they didn't already hang out. His eyes scanned the pool area. It looked like everyone in town was there.

"Z!" he heard a familiar voice yell. Wendy yelled at him from her stand.

"Hey!" he waved back. "I'm here to apply for the job."

"Great! Just go talk to my boss." She gestured to a muscular man doing pushups with his thumbs by the side of the pool. Zyon made his way over.

"Excuse me, uh sir?" The man stopped, then somehow elevated himself into a standing position without bending his legs.

"State your name and purpose!" the man bellowed.

Zyon felt his throat close up. "Uh, my name is Zyon. I'd like a job."

"A job! Really? Can you stand against the anarchy?" He pointed to a few people relaxing on floats in the water. Zyon narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out where the anarchy was.

"Sir, I promise I will do whatever it takes to take care of any anarchy at this pool," Zyon pronounced.

"Alright. You've got the job!"

Zyon made his way back over to Wendy. He stopped suddenly when he saw Dipper talking to her.

"How about I be the assistant lifeguard?" Zyon had to stifle a laugh as Dipper's voice cracked.

"Sorry, Dip. The job's already taken," Zyon broke in."

"Excuse me? Did you just call me Dip?" the boy squint his eyes.

"Hey don't go mental on me bro," Zyon continued. "I'm just letting you know that I already talked to Mr. Poolcheck and he gave me the job."

"Who's Mr. Poolcheck?" Dipper asked. Wendy pointed to the muscular man now hanging from the fence doing sit-ups. Dipper grit his teeth as his eyes gazed with horror. He looked back at the empty lifeguard chair.

"Are you sure you want this job, Zyon," Dipper asked. "I mean you already work at the Shack."

"So do you," he returned coldly.

"Yeah, but, I have better organizational skills."

"What does that have to do with being a lifeguard?"

"Well, do you have any experience?"

"I'm CPR certified."

"So am I," Dipper countered.

"I learned to swim when I was I was five."

"I learned to swim when I was three."

Wendy looked between the two. "You know, I think I'm going to have a competition for you two."

"A competition?" Zyon asked. "For the job?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Zyon shrugged. "Okay."

"You okay with that, Dipper?" she asked.

The frown and worried eyes was not a confident response. He looked back at Zyon, a kid twice as big as him and probably twice as strong.

"Is this mostly a physical competition, because I'm stronger in the intellectual department," Dipper explained.

"Of course it's a physical competition," Zyon replied hastily. "You need to be fast and strong to be a lifeguard."

"I'm fast and strong. Just watch, I'm going to be sittin in that chair." He pointed at the empty assistant's stand.

"Okay. Let's see-" wendy said as she looked around the pool. "Well, we can have a swimming competition." Wendy blew her whistle gaining everyone's attention. "Everyone needs to get out of the pool! We're doing a mandatory cleaning!" People exited the pool.

"Won't Mr. Poolcheck be upset you're forcing everyone out of the pool?" Dipper asked.

"I don't know. Hey, if there's no people in the pool, I don't have to lifeguard them." Wendy blew her whistle again. "Man, I love doing that! Okay, so how many laps should I make you swim? How about twenty?"

"No problem!" Zyon said. He turned to Dipper. "Youngest gets in first," he said as he pushed the boy into the pool. Dipper cried out as he hit the cold water. Zyon jumped in, also letting out a cry as he wasn't prepared for the water to be as cold as it was. He looked up to see Wendy laughing.

"Okay, guys, the race starts when I blow this whistle." The two of them readied themselves. At the sound of a piercing whistle. Zyon pushed with his feet off the side of the pool. He swam as fast as he could. When he reached the other side, he quickly turned around and swam back the other way. As Dipper and Zyon continued the competition, the people at the poolside took notice. Among these folk, he saw Mabel, Stan and Soos. The cheers from the crowd were a bit muffled as Zyon splashed through the water. He ignored them and kept count inside his head.

 _Seven eight...eleven, twelve...fifteen, sixteen…_

Zyon reached the edge of the pool. "Twenty," he exclaimed. He looked up to see Wendy. He turned his head to see Dipper swimming up to the edge of the pool.

"Twenty!" he cried. Then, he turned to see Zyon.

"Sorry Dipper," Wendy said. "Zyon won." A huge frown formed on his mouth.

"Don't worry, that was only part one," she said.

Stan walked over. "Alright, my guy came in first! Where's my money?"

Wendy narrowed her eyes. "You never made any bet," she said.

Stan's smile fell. He scrunched his face and walked away.

"So, what's the next part of the competition?" Zyon asked.

Wendy looked around. "Well, if you want to be a lifeguard, you have to make sure everyone plays by the rules?"

"Really? That doesn't sound like something you usually stand by," Dipper replied.

Wendy flashed a huge smile. "I never said I go by the rules. I just make sure everyone else does. Just make sure everyone stays safe"

Zyon and Dipper walked around the pool, looking for any rule breakers. A few feet away, Stan was about to sit down in a lounge chair when someone beat him to it. Stan recognized the kid with white poofy hair.

"Gideon!" he screamed. "Get out of my chair, Kid!"

Zyon moved closer. Gideon did move, he rolled back and forth, further claiming the chair as his. Stan grabbed the little twirp by the ankles and tossed him into the pool. Zyon blew on the whistle Wendy gave him. Stan turned around, stunned.

"Sorry, Mr. P, that's a violation of safety. You're gonna have to go in the time out box."

"Are you kiddin' me?"

"Afraid not. I mean, it was cool seeing you toss Gideon into the pool like that, but I still got to lay down the law of the pool, know what I'm sayin'?"

"But I'm your boss!" Stan raged.

"Not here, you're not."

Stan grumbled as Zyon walked him to a small caged in area where two teenage boys sat.

Zyon returned to Wendy with a smile on his face.

"I put our boss in the time out box." He pointed at the caged in area where Stan sat. Wendy laughed. "Good job. What was he doing?"

"He threw Gideon in the pool, which was actually really cool to see, but when else would I have a chance to throw my boss into 'jail.'"

"Whoa, careful, you're starting to sound like me," she said.

Just then, Dipper walked over, "Check it out Wendy, I made sure the pool is super safe by organizing everyone by age, height and swimming ability." He pointed at the pool where all kids and senior citizens were in the shallow end, wearing floaties. Middle aged kids swam around in the middle of the pool, while teenagers were diving off the high dive into the deep end. "Also, I supplied everyone who is sunbathing with sunscreen and sunglasses. Organizational skills!"

"Wow!" she laughed. "I don't think anything will top that. You win round two."

"Yes!" Dipper said in a hushed cry.

"Wait a minute, you said look for rule breakers, not turn the pool into a filing cabinet."

Dipper narrowed his eyes in confusion. "A filing cabinet?"

"Hey, its cool. Each of you won a round today."

Suddenly a loud whistle blew from the gate entrance. Mr. Poolcheck stood there as the whistle few from his mouth.

"The pool is now closed. Everyone go home!"

"Alright!" Wendy said as she grabbed her stuff from the lifeguard stand.

"What about the competition?" Dipper asked.

"We'll do the last one tomorrow. That way, I have time to think of what it is." She waved. "Later."

When Zyon returned home, he was surprised to see his mom standing in the doorway of their home. The surprise went from a happy one to one of great concern when he saw who she was talking to. Sheriff Blubbs and his Deputy stood in plain sight. Zyon stopped just before the driveway, did a quick turn and hide behind the bushes that sat as a border between the neighbor's house and his. He saw the Sheriff's mouth moving. Unfortunately, he was too far away to hear anything.

 _Crimson. Oceana. Can you tell me what he's saying?_

 _It is what you fear. They told her everything that happened with Gideon. Now, your mom is thinking of leaving Gravity Falls._ Fear took over Zyon's mind.

 _My parents want to move? To where? I've made so many friends here. And Wendy…_

He went up the side of the house and to the backyard. A white fence scaled around the yard and a few trees stood towards the back. Having a house was definitely a step up from their apartment where his family used to live. Zyon looked up to the second story at the window of his bedroom.

 _Can you guys help me get up to my room?_

Zyon suddenly felt himself being lifted upwards. still in the air, he reached over and lifted his bedroom window open and pulled himself inside. No sooner did he arrive inside his room than someone knocked on his door.

"Zyon, are you in there?" he heard his mother's voice.

 _Not dealing with this._ He thought to himself.

Zyon jumped into bed and pulled the covers over him. His mom opened the door, letting in a crack of light from the hallway. The door closed and he heard her footsteps getting quieter. He let out a sigh and stared up at the ceiling.

 _I can't leave Gravity Falls. I won't leave!_

These were his final thoughts before he drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Stake Out

**N/A: Hello and Happy New Year!** **Enjoy chapter 10. The two chapters after this are going to be the season 1 finale. I'm going to take a little bit of time writing them. For now, enjoy the second part of the pool episode.** Chapter 10: Stake Out

The next day, Zyon arrived at the pool to see Mr. Poolcheck steaming mad. "You!" he bellowed when he saw the teen. "Get over here!" Zyon raised his eyebrows as he slowly walked over. "Wuz up?" Mr. Poolcheck shoved a long stick with a net at the end. "Do you know who broke the pool skimmer?" he screamed as his bloodshot eyes bulged out. "You got security cameras? You can find out it you do." "Security cameras? How much money do you think being the Public Pool Attendant makes?" Zyon was about to answer when he was cut off. "Almost nothing! My life is a joke!" Zyon was about to speak again when he was once again, rudely cut off. "I want you on a twenty four hour stake out. If one more piece of equipment gets taken, you're fired!" Zyon narrowed his eyes. "Seriously?" Someone from behind Zyon cleared their throat. He turned to see Dipper standing there with is dopey grin. "Excuse me, Mr. Poolcheck? I would be honored to be the one to guard the pool supplies." "Uh, he asked me, Dip," Zyon spat out. "Stop calling me that!" Dipper returned. "And I'm going to guard the supplies." "You know what? Both of you can do it! Nothing better get taken or-" "We're both fired?" Zyon broke in. "Yeah!" their boss stomped away. "Wait a minute," Zyon said. "What did I just volunteer to do? Forget it, this job is not worth it!" He turned in time to see Wendy walking over holding a megaphone. "Hey guys, I just tricked Soos into thinking the little ducks on the intertubes are being enslaved and he has to free them." Dipper and Zyon both laughed, then stopped and stared at each other. "Well, I guess I can watch the supplies for a little while. " "Yeah, I guess I will too," Dipper replied. The two of them backed away from each other still keeping a close watch on the other person. Zyon stood on the lifeguard stand, periodically checking the tool shed. He looked over at the other stand where Wendy sat. "Hey Wendy, just wanted to ask you something." She looked over. "Yeah?" "Who do you want to be the assistant Lifeguard? Me or Dipper?" A frown formed on her mouth. "Uh, well, I think either one of you would do a good job." "Yeah, but Dipper is a kid. He can't handle the pressure of a job like this." "Listen, I realize you don't like him. In fact, sometimes, you sound just like R-" Wendy quickly covered her mouth and turned away. "No, I uh-forget it. So, you like working here more than the Mystery Shack?" "Yeah, I get free snacks. But, now all I do is work. If I'm not at the Mystery Shack, I'm here and vice versa." "If you had to pick one job, would it be here or the shack?" "I couldn't quit working at the shack," she said. "Why not?" "I-well, it's complicated. The whole reason I have that job is because of the relationship my dad has with Stan. And even though Stan has threatened to replace me with a toaster, I know he needs me to work there." "I don't understand. I mean, no offense, but he can get another cashier." "One who will keep their mouth shut about Stan's scams and his tax fraud? Not really. Plus that other incident with that kid." "You mentioned something about a kid before. Both you and Soos mentioned him. So, you're gonna let me in on it?" "I don't know. Are you gonna tell anyone. I mean, since your parents work with the law, they would arrest Stan in seconds." Zyon thought about this. He was in a position of power. He could make Stan pay him more so he'll keep his mouth shut. Or Stan could just fire him. He really didn't have any proof. Well, the Mystery Shack was enough proof to see a scam, but no one seemed to care. "No. I won't say anything." "It's no big deal. They found him. Stan and the parents found the little boy in the attic." "So, the little boy got lost in the shack? That's it?" "Well, he wasn't breathing when they found him. That's why he got rushed to the hospital." "Wasn't breathing? What happened to him?" "I don't know." Zyon squint his eyes. Wendy flashed him a smile. "So, about the last event of the competition-" "Actually, I had a talk with Mr. Poolcheck. He's concerned about the pool supplies so he told me and Dipper to keep a watch. Whoever does a better job, gets to stay." "Oh, okay that works. I was gonna have you two battle to the death, but this won't involve any clean up afterwards." "Is anyone in this town right in the head?" Zyon asked. Wendy laughed. The time the pool would close came and everyone exited the area. Zyon saw Wendy heading out and ran to catch up. "Hey-" he began. Suddenly, a muscular arm attached to a large hand reached out and grabbed him. Mr. Poolcheck turned the boy around to face him. "Where do you think yur goin'?" he bellowed. "Uh, home. The pool's closing." "Look here pint size, you gave me your word that you'd stay here and guard those supplies!" "Wait! You mean I gotta stay here overnight? But, my parents are expecting me home." "You wanna keep your job?" Zyon was about to say 'screw it' when he saw Dipper walk over. "Don't worry Mr. Poolcheck. I'll guard those supplies overnight. No one is going to steal anything tonight." "Uh, me too," Zyon quickly added. Their boss nodded and walked away, giving them some relief. NIght came and Zyon still sat on the lifeguard stand. He looked up to see millions of stars in the sky and one possible UFO. Maybe this wasn't so bad. He was getting paid over time, which was a foreign term to Stan. No one was there, except for the kid in the pool filter. It was so peaceful. After a while, he got bored and climbed down. As he walked around the pool he noticed someone by the door to the pool shed. He ran over, ready to pounce on whoever it was. As he approached, the person turned and shined his flashlight towards him. "Oh, it's you." Zyon heard the familiar squeaky voice. He looked down at Dipper wearing his pool patrol hat. "I don't understand why you're staying too," Dipper said. "I got this" Zyon squint his eyes. "Oh no you don't! You're not taking my job!" Dipper finally exploded. "I went for this job first!" "No you didn't! He already gave the job to me and then you came horning in on it." A sly smile appeared on his lips. "And I know why. You think if you get this job, then you'll get to work with Wendy all summer. Why are you bothing? She's not into you!" Dipper's expression softened and he turned away. "I know that," he said solemnly. "But, that's why I have to do this." Suddenly, a clanging sound came from the other end of the pool. Zyon and Dipper ran over to see the last person they expected to be at a public pool at night. Stan stood in his suit holding a pair of pliers that he just used to cut a hole in the fence. "Grunkle Stan? What are you doing here?" "I have no idea. I must be sleep walking. Also sleep talking." He stared at Dipper, hoping he bought that. "You're the one destroying pool supplies." "What? No. What I'm doing is much better than that," he said with a victorious grin. "I'm getting that chair before Gideon does! Then maybe I'll destroy some pool supplies. NIght's still young." Zyon narrowed his eyes. "Really, Mr. P? You really gotta be that petty?" He stared blankly at the boy for a moment. "Yes," he answered plainly. "Alright Grunkle Stan, time to go," Dipper said. He blew hard on his whistle. "Fine I'm going." Stan started to walk back through the hole, but did a quick turn and ran towards the other side. Dipper ran after him. "This is so stupid man. Why am I here?" Zyon ran towards the bathrooms. He didn't see Stan or Dipper anywhere. Then, Dipper came out of the men's bathroom. "He's not in there," he said. "Let's go back to the pool shed." The two rushed back. The door to the woman's bathroom opened and Stan poked his head out. He walked over and sat on the pool chair he claimed was the best one that was equal distance from the snack bar and the bathrooms and had the right amount of sun and shade. He lay down. "Now I only have to wait fifteen hours before the pool opens up-. This was a good plan," he said with an accomplished smile. Zyon and Dipper arrived at the pool shed to see Mabel with the cooler on the golf cart that belonged to the shack. "Mabel! Dipper cried. "Is there anyone not breaking into the pool tonight? What is Soos here too?" Just then, Soos fell over the fence into the pool area. "Go home Soos." "You got it," he said as he tried to jump up to reach the top of the fence." "Yo Mabel, what you got in the cooler?" Zyon asked. "That's top secret!" she said and zoomed off. "Mabel! Come back here!" Dipper shouted. He jumped in the pool cart and rode after her. Zyon shook his head. He walked over to the pool filter where the poor kid who was put in solitary still was held captive. He pulled out the vent. "You've been in there long enough. Go home." The boy who didn't look older than ten swam out and practically jumped out of the pool. "Thank you!" He grabbed Zyon and held him tight. "Oh my God, thank you so much!" "It's fine," Zyon grunted. "Just go home!" "Yay!" he shouted and ran out through the giant hole in the fence. Zyon walked over to Stan who was lying down with his eyes closed. He bent down and spoke just above a whisper to the old man. "You're really sad, you know that?" A snort erupted from Stan as he mumbled and rolled over, deep in sleep. Zyon started off towards the hole. "No! Come back!" he heard Stan erupt. Zyon turned to the old man who was still fast asleep. "Whatever," Zyon grumbled. Mabel and Dipper were long gone. How was he going to find them. Then, it came to him. How else? _Hey, Crimson, are you free?_ Flying in the night sky, Zyon felt more in his space. He looked down to search for the twins. Suddenly, a water balloon flew past his ear. Turing his head, he looked behind him. His eyes trailed down to Dipper down in the pool vehicle lodging balloons at the golf cart Mabel drove. Another balloon flew over the golf cart and up at him. "God, that kid has bad aim," Zyon criticized. Crimson followed the chase all the way to the lake. Crismon dropped Zyon off under the thick trees and vanished. He ran out to where the twins were arguing. "What do you think you're doing Mabel! I'm gonna lose my job because of you!" "But Dipper, I needed the cooler!" "Why?" Suddenly a sneeze came from inside the cooler. Dipper opened the cooler to reveal something he wasn't ready for. A young man with a hispanic origin and a long blue fishtail rolled out. Mabel sighed. "I needed the cooler to transport my friend who is a merman. "What the hell?" Zyon cried as rushed over. "Who's that?" "This is my friend, Mermando," Mabel said. "Mermando?" Zyon asked skeptically. "What kind of name is that?" "It is what people call me," the merman answered. "This is because Mermando is my name." "So, what's your deal?" Zyon asked. "I think I am dying!" he said as he collapsed on the ground. Mabel noticed the water in the cooler was all gone. Mermando's face turned blue. "Aqua!" he gasped. "Aqua, por favor!" "He needs water!" Mabel cried. "Dipper, you're a lifeguard, give him CPR!" "But he doesn't breathe air!' "Then do reverse CPR, doy!" Dipper immediately began pouring water into his mouth and blew it into the merman's mouth. "I hate this!" he shouted, but did it again. "I hate this!" Mabel began taking pictures. She laughed quietly to herself. "Blackmail." Zyon stood there, trying to figure out why Dipper didn't just throw Mermando into the water. Finally, the merman sat up. "Thank you," he said to Dipper. "But. why didn't you just roll me into the lake?" Dipper groaned and slapped his forehead for his own stupidity. Now, fully emerged into the water, Merando splashed around feeling free. Then, he stopped and looked sadly at Mabel. "I am glad I met you. I just have one problem. I need to call to my family, but my voice is faded and my throat is soar." Mabel thought for a moment, then it came to her. "I got it! BRB!" She ran to the pool vehicle and grabbed the megaphone. Dipper snatched it from her. "Dipper, I need your loud caller thingy." "Mabel, I can't! I'll lose my job!" Mabel gazed sadly at her brother. "Have you ever fallen for someone, but you know deep down that it won't ever work out?" Dipper's gaze fell. Even Zyon had to admit that her words got to him too. Dipper sighed and handed the megaphone to his sister. She threw it to Mermando. "Thank you Dipper. I am indebted to you." 'You have no idea," Dipper whispered to himself. "One more thing, before I go." Mermando put his hands on the edge of the dock, pushed himself up and gave Mabel the kiss she was wishing for. Dipper turned away, disgusted. The merman swam off, leaving the three with a dented cooler, a dented pool vehicle and no megaphone. "I'm not sure how we're going to explain this to Mr. Poolcheck," Dipper said. "Well, I'm tellin' him the truth!" Zyon returned. "That she stole pool supplies and led you on a high speed golf cart chase! Also I'm telling him that Stan cut his fence." Zyon began to walk away. Dipper turned to Mabel who already had a broken heart. "Hey, wait!" He chased after Zyon. He ran right in front of the teenager. "I'll take full responsibility. Don't tell him about Mabel or Stan. They're my family." "Are you serious? Why would you do that for your sister, man?" "Do you have any siblings?" Dipper asked. Zyon's gaze fell to the ground. "No." "Then you wouldn't understand." Zyon let those words sink in. Ever since his was a child, he felt other kids looked at him like he was privileged just because he didn't have to share anything with siblings. However, he also didn't have anyone to back him up when bullies came after him. He was always alone. "Z?" Mabel called. Zyon turned to her. "I don't want you guys getting fired because of me. You can tell him whatever you feel is best, okay?" Mabel walked over to the golf cart and drove off. Zyon sighed. He didn't know what he should do.

The next day, Mr. Poolcheck was beyond livid. "Who is responsible for this mess?" he screamed. Dipper looked at Zyon. He opened his mouth to speak, then," "I did it, sir." Zyon said. Dipper's eyes widened. "I mean, I didn't break the fence, steal your megaphone and cooler and dent the pool cart, but I failed the stop the person who did. Actually, Dipper is the reason, you still have a pool cart and cooler." "As far as I'm concerned, neither one of you has what it takes to handle the anarchy of a public pool. You're both fired!" He snatched their whistles, shoved them in his mouth and swallowed them. The boys did a sideways glance at each other, then slowly back away from their former boss. "If one more thing goes wrong today-!" Soos landed on the pool side of the fence, grabbed the duck floaties and threw them over the fence. "You're free little ducks!" he said gleefully. Poolcheck turned with a steaming glare. "You!" he yelled. "Oh no!" Soos shook with fear. He rushed over to the fence and got over it just as the madman barreled through the thick wired fence. The boys walked towards the pool exit. Their eyes perked up as Wendy walked over to them. Strange, she was in her normal clothes. "Hey Dudes, guess what? I just got fired." "Really?" Dipper asked. "How did that happen?" Zyon asked. "I took too many snacks." She showed them under her hat. The three of them laughed as they left the pool. Zyon came home to an empty house again. He was used to this, but the air felt heavy. He went upstairs, ignoring the eerie feeling looming over him. Once in his room, he felt a little safer, but he had to do something to drown out the silence. Zyon grabbed his phone and sat down on his bed. Putting his earbuds in, he looked through his song list. He finally found one with a calming melody and listened to it as he drifted to sleep. Zyon opened his eyes to see a familiar place, his bedroom from his old house. There was a door that led out onto a small deck. He walked outside to see his old neighborhood. "Are you homesick, kid?" he heard a familiar high pitch voice. Zyon looked up to see a strange triangular figure with a hat and bowtie. "Oh, it's you. Wuz up?" "Wuz up, yourself. You know I've been watching you, right?" "And?" Zyon asked. "You're kind of getting sweet on Ms. Ice Bag." Zyon made a crude sound with his lips. "Why do you call her that? Her name is Wendy." "You know why," the creature returned. Zyon rolled his eyes. "Is there a purpose for this meeting?" "Of course. I need to talk to you about your dragons." "What are you talking about?" "They had a baby, right? I need you to give it to me." "I don't think Crimson and Oceana will give up their kid." "They can have another one. Dragons have offspring all the time." "But why?" "Two reasons," the dream demon held up two fingers. "One, I need to uh, feed that thing, you know that keeps watch on the interdimensional door to my world and two, you owe me a whole bunch of sacrifices for showing people your dragons. Rather than having you kill another person, I'll just take the dragon's baby. Maybe that will deter them from showing themselves to mortals." "Wait a minute!" Zyon raged. "You said that I can't let people know that I have dragons. I know I showed them off for those people at the shack, but no one knows they belong to me." "I'm talking about your friends. You now have three friends who know you have dragons, Ice Bag, Shooting Star and Pine Tree." The demon glanced menacingly at Zyon. "You don't want to have to kill any of them, do you?" Zyon grit his teeth. "NO!" He let out a long sigh. "You can have the baby." "Great!" the demon's eye formed a smile. "I have to let you go, but I'll catch up with you later." With those words, the dream demon was gone. Zyon woke up. He ran over to his closet where the baby dragon slept in the box. He wasn't surprised to see it was gone. 


End file.
